Mubasher: Amazon Web Services (AWS) is set to build three huge data centres in Bahrain by 2019, following an agreement between the American company and the Bahraini government.

AWS announced in Manama that it has selected Bahrain as the location for its first ever data centres in the Middle East.

The company is planning to open three availability zones in Bahrain with the next two years, with each zone comprising at least one data centre each, according to the company statement on Monday.

AWS currently has 44 availability zones in its 16 infrastructure regions around the world at present.

"As countries in the Middle East look to transform their economies for generations to come, technology will play a major role, and the cloud will be in the middle of that transformation," said the CEO of AWS, Andy Jassy.

Meanwhile, the CEO of Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB), Khalid Al Rumaihi said that AWS's commitment to expanding its presence in the Middle East and North Africa region for Bahrain is a major enabler for technology and data-driven business across the GCC.

"The ability to store and share data at speeds the Gulf has never experienced before has the potential to help global corporates, SMEs, entrepreneurs and governments gain competitive advantage at a global level,” added Al Rumaihi.