Amazon to invest US $5B in Querétaro data ‘region’

President Claudia Sheinbaum announced a US $5 billion investment in Mexico from Amazon Web Services during her daily press conference on Tuesday.

The investment, which will be distributed over the next 15 years, is aimed at developing a new digital “region” in Mexico’s Querétaro state. With it, Amazon expects to establish Mexico as a hub for digital innovation in Latin America. 

Sheinbaum announced the investment alongside Amazon representatives, including AWS Vice President for Latin America Paula Bellizia.
Sheinbaum announced the investment alongside Amazon representatives, including AWS Vice President for Latin America Paula Bellizia. (Gustavo Alberto/Cuartoscuro)

Amazon Web Services (AWS) plans to train 400,000 people to manage the Querétaro infrastructure cloud region. This builds upon AWS’s commitment to developing Mexican talent, having trained 500,000 Mexicans in cloud skills since 2017. 

“[The] new Amazon investment of $5 billion in Querétaro. 200,000 people will be trained and educated, it will generate an additional $10 billion for the GDP, and we will be ready for artificial intelligence. Plan México is moving ahead!” Mexico’s Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard wrote on the social media site X. 

Plan México, announced by Sheinbaum and members of the Economy Ministry (SE) on Monday, seeks to attract $277 billion in domestic and foreign investment across 2,000 projects in the next six years. 

AWS said the new digital region will help customers run workloads and securely store data via Mexico’s data centers. The company first announced plans to develop data centers in Mexico last February in response to the growing demand in Latin America for cloud services.

“Our commitment is to democratizing access to advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence and cloud computing, promoting a more equitable, innovative and competitive Mexico at a global level,” AWS Vice President for Latin America Paula Bellizia said during Sheinbaum’s press conference. 

Bellizia also said that the investment is expected to support the creation of “7,000 highly qualified and full-time jobs” per year.  

According to Amazon, the construction and operation of the new center in Querétaro will add about $10 billion to Mexico’s gross domestic product. 

“One way to accelerate the impact on the Mexican economy is the adoption of artificial intelligence and we know that it is central to the government of President Claudia Sheinbaum,” said Bellizia on Tuesday. 

With reports from El Economista, La Jornada and The Wall Street Journal

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