AWS has officially launched a new cloud region in Indonesia – AWS Asia Pacific (Jakarta) Region. The new region is expected to enable developers, including start-ups, enterprises as well as government and other public sectors to run their applications and serve end-users from data centres located in Indonesia leveraging advanced technologies to drive innovation. The cloud provides organisations of all types and sizes – from businesses to educational institutions to government agencies – opportunities to transform their operations and reinvent experiences for their customers and end-users.
An estimated US$5 billion will be invested by the company in Indonesia over the next 15 years through the new region. This includes capital expenditures on the construction of data centres, operational expenses related to ongoing utilities and facility costs, and purchases of goods and services from regional businesses. The investment is also estimated to sustain an average of 24,700 direct and indirect jobs annually during this time.
These jobs will be part of the company’s supply chain in Indonesia, including construction, facility maintenance, engineering, telecommunications and jobs within the broader Indonesian economy. The construction and operation of the company’s infrastructure in Indonesia are also estimated to add over IDR 155 trillion to Indonesia’s GDP over the next 15 years.
According to Prasad Kalyanaraman, Vice President of Infrastructure Services at AWS, the new region in the Asia Pacific can help Indonesian institutions, innovative start-ups, and world-leading companies deliver cloud-powered applications to fuel economic development across the country. Moreover, organisations across industries in Indonesia can now also take advantage of the new region to lower costs, increase agility, and drive innovation.
For the Governor of Bank Indonesia, the nation’s central bank, the company’s cloud technology will help them achieve their vision and goals outlined in the Indonesia Payment Systems 2045 blueprint, fully digitalising the nation’s payment systems and integrating a multitude of stakeholders and economic activities under the guiding principles of security and data protection.
The new Asia Pacific (Jakarta) Region is the latest in the AWS’ ongoing investments in Indonesia. In 2018, the company opened an office in Jakarta to support its rapidly growing customer base across the country with new jobs including technical experts, solutions architects, technical account managers (TAMs), partner managers, systems engineers, and professional services providers.
According to another article, new research has revealed that downloads of banking and alternative lending apps grew eight times over in the first nine months of 2021. Users in India, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Vietnam downloaded 7.8 times as many fintech apps in August as they did in January. In January, those countries saw 33,824 app downloads. By the end of August, that figure had jumped to 264,754. Other findings add to the picture, revealing that the number of venture financing deals in the financial services deals in the region has gone from 9 in 2011 to 473 in 2021.
The data highlights the boom in the Southeast Asian fintech sector. A possible explanation provided for this surge is the COVID-19 pandemic. Just as the coronavirus health crisis has accelerated the fintech sector in the West and the adoption of remote working solutions, it has also contributed to the fintech boom in Southeast Asia. It was noted that the growing popularity of apps that grant access to financial services is rooted in global digitalisation, bolstered by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Concurrently, the population, mainly adults, had to purchase services and goods online, despite the uncertainty of technology. The combination of these two factors has translated into increased use of Internet applications and services.
While there are still several roadblocks in achieving greater digitalisation, Indonesia, like many other countries in the region, is seeing heavy investment in its internet infrastructure. Major companies are building new data centres and undersea cables.
