Teresa Carlson, Vice President Worldwide Public Sector - Amazon Web Services (AWS), announced last Thursday that the company will open an office in Manama, Bahrain on Jan.1, 2017. The new office will support organizations of all sizes, from start-ups to government institutions, as they make the transition to the AWS Cloud. She added that major opportunities exist for tech entrepreneurship in the Middle East. Middle Eastern organizations were among the earliest adopters of cloud services when AWS launched in 2006. The decision to open one of the first AWS offices in the Middle East, in Bahrain, speaks to the creativity, innovation, and forward thinking we see across all of the Bahrain economy from start-ups through to government institutions. We are excited to bring our team to Bahrain to help the country to grow its economy. Khalid Al Rumaihi, Chief Executive at the Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB), said "the Bahrain EDB is committed to helping drive forward the development of a strong and supportive environment for innovation and entrepreneurship in the Kingdom. This encompasses a number of areas, including access to finance, education initiatives and regulatory developments, but having the world's leading cloud computing provider open an office in Bahrain will play a vital role. The AWS team will provide invaluable support to all Bahraini organizations as they move to the cloud." One of the goals of the office is to expand AWS Cloud Training and Global Certification programs, and upskill citizens on the opportunity that AWS technology brings. Organizations in Bahrain are already seeing the benefit of AWS to rapidly grow and serve customers around the world. Cloud 10 Scalerator, part of technology investment firm C5, is one organization that is working with new start-ups in Bahrain to help scale up their businesses by using AWS. Andre Pienaar, Founder, C5, said "with Cloud 10 we are creating a platform, powered by AWS, for the businesses of tomorrow to flourish. We see huge amounts of innovation coming from young, creative entrepreneurs in the MENA region and the cloud is key to fueling their growth. Having the AWS team based in Manama will help us to grow the companies we work with as well as helping to transform the region into one of the fastest growing start-up hubs in the world." Amazon will continue its investment in, and expansion, across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. In 2015, Amazon created over 10,000 new jobs in that region. — SG
