Amazon Web Services (AWS) has officially launched a new Asia Pacific (New Zealand) Region, featuring three availability zones, to enhance local cloud services including analytics, AI, and storage, with plans for expansion to Chile, Saudi Arabia, and Europe.

AWS's expansion efforts are supported by local partnerships with companies such as Accenture, Deloitte, Datacom, and MongoDB.

The new region, operational as of September 2, 2025, is part of AWS's broader strategy announced in 2021, after construction delays in 2023, and is located strategically around Auckland to optimize security and performance.

AWS plans to invest over NZ$7.5 billion in developing and operating this data center, aiming to meet rising demand for cloud services and support digital transformation across New Zealand.

This investment is expected to generate over 1,000 jobs and contribute approximately NZ$10.8 billion to the local economy, with operations powered entirely by renewable energy sourced from Mercury NZ's Turitea South wind farm.

The region is designed to be sovereign-by-design, emphasizing security and compliance, and will serve existing AWS customers such as Kiwibank, Xero, TradeMe, and government agencies like the Ministry of Transport.

AWS has committed to training 100,000 individuals in cloud skills through programs like AWS Academy, AWS Educate, and AWS Skill Builder, with over 50,000 already trained, in partnership with the New Zealand government.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon highlighted the AWS investment as a milestone for boosting productivity and digital transformation in both the public and private sectors.

Despite a slowdown in AWS growth reflected in stock price declines, the company's backlog reached a record $195 billion, driven by capacity constraints related to power and hardware shortages rather than demand decline.

AWS's infrastructure expansion in New Zealand also includes subsea cable connections, edge locations, and direct connect facilities to improve service delivery.

Amazon's CEO highlighted that capacity issues, not demand, are currently limiting AWS growth and are unlikely to be resolved in the short term.

In addition to the data center launch, the government announced an exemption to the foreign buyers ban for high-net-worth individuals on the Active Investor Plus visa, aiming to attract wealthy investors to New Zealand.