Today, Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced that AWS Asia Pacific (Taipei) Region is generally available with three Availability Zones and Region code ap-east-2. The new Region brings AWS infrastructure and services closer to customers in Taiwan.

Skyline of Taipei including the Taipei 101 building

As the first infrastructure Region in Taipei and the fifteenth Region in Asia Pacific, the new Region expands the AWS global footprint to 117 Availability Zones across 37 geographic Regions worldwide. The new AWS Region will help developers, startups, and enterprises, as well as education, entertainment, financial services, healthcare, manufacturing, and nonprofit organizations run their applications and serve end users while maintaining data residency in Taiwan.

AWS in Taiwan

AWS has maintained a presence in Taiwan for more than a decade, starting with the opening of the AWS Taipei office in 2014. Since then, AWS has introduced many infrastructure offerings in Taiwan including:

In 2014, AWS launched the first Amazon CloudFront edge location and added another in 2018, offering customers a secure and efficient content delivery network for accelerating data, video, application, and API delivery worldwide.

In 2018, AWS established two AWS Direct Connect locations in Taiwan to enhance connectivity options. With the launch of the AWS Asia Pacific (Taipei) Region, we’ve added a new Direct Connect location in Taiwan to provide customers with higher speed and bandwidth.

In 2020, AWS launched AWS Outposts in Taiwan, helping customers seamlessly extend AWS infrastructure and services to their on-premises or edge locations for a consistent hybrid experience.

In 2022, AWS launched AWS Local Zone in Taipei to support low-latency applications requiring single-digit millisecond responsiveness.

Today, with the launch of the AWS Asia Pacific (Taipei) Region, we further strengthen our commitment to support innovation in Taiwan. Organizations in regulated industries will be able to store data locally while maintaining complete control over data location and movement. From high-tech manufacturing to semiconductor companies and small and medium enterprises (SMEs), businesses will gain access to the scalable infrastructure needed for growth and innovation.

AWS customers in Taiwan

Organizations across Taiwan are already using AWS to innovate and deliver differentiated experiences to their customers, for example:

Cathay Financial Holdings (CFH) is a leader in financial technology in Taiwan. It continuously introduces the latest technology to create a full-scenario financial service ecosystem. Since 2021, CFH has built a cloud environment on AWS that strengthens its security control and meets compliance requirements.

“Cathay Financial Holdings will continue to accelerate digital transformation in the industry, also improve the stability, security, timeliness, and scalability of our financial services,” said Marcus Yao, senior executive vice president of CFH. “With the new AWS Region in Taiwan, CFH is expected to provide customers with even more diverse and convenient financial services.”

Gamania Group is revolutionizing the entertainment landscape by integrating AI with celebrity IP through their innovative Vyin AI platform. Gamania utilized the robust and scalable infrastructure of AWS to develop secure, responsive AI interactions.

Benjamin Chen, chief strategy officer and head of Innovation Lab, said: “The core goal of Vyin AI is to create a digital identity that is fully interactive, lifelike, and safe to use. This demands technologies that are stable, responsive, and secure. To that end, we rely on the robust and resilient cloud infrastructure of AWS, and look forward to the low-latency advantages offered by the AWS Region in Taiwan. AWS provides a highly stable and secure environment for Vyin AI to provide users with secure and AI hallucination free interactions. AWS Cloud services allow us to focus more on core AI technology innovation and the enhancement of the ‘hyper-personalized interactive’ user experience, thereby accelerating product iteration and optimization.”

Chunghwa Telecom is a leader in cloud network services in Taiwan with the broadest mainstream 5G bandwidth, exceptional network speed, and globally recognized mobile internet capabilities. Chunghwa Telecom utilizes generative AI platforms such as Amazon Bedrock to build innovative services and create intelligent applications for various industries.

Dr. Rong-Shy Lin, president of CHT, stated: “With the launch of the AWS Region in Taiwan, CHT’s partnership with AWS has entered a new phase. We will deepen the integration of key advantages of the AWS Region, such as low latency and local data storage, combining them with CHT’s extensive backbone network, rich cloud experience, and professional team that has obtained multiple AWS Competency certifications. This will allow CHT to provide solutions that meet strict security and compliance requirements for government, financial, critical infrastructure, and highly regulated industries. At the same time, we are utilizing AWS technologies such as Amazon Bedrock to develop innovative applications and accelerate digital transformation and AI adoption. We will continue to provide optimized cloud and network services in Taiwan while supporting customers’ global expansion.”

AWS Partners in Taiwan

The AWS Partner Network in Taiwan plays a crucial role in helping customers adopt cloud technologies and maximize value from the new AWS Asia Pacific (Taipei) Region. These specialized partners combine deep technical expertise with local market knowledge to accelerate digital transformation across industries.

eCloudvalley Digital Technology Group is an AWS Premier Tier Services Partner with a team of cloud experts with more than 600 certifications.

“eCloudvalley Group has always embraced our mission of being a cloud evangelist, driving the adoption of cloud technology across Taiwan’s industries,” said MP Tsai, chairman of eCloudvalley Group. “With over a decade of close collaboration with AWS, we are honored to help more and more customers and industries move to the cloud while being part of customers’ digital transformation journey on AWS. We believe that the launch of the AWS Asia Pacific (Taipei) Region will further support Taiwan companies’ digital transformation and innovation in Taiwan with its world-leading cloud technology, while industries with higher local data residency requirements, such as finance and healthcare, will be able to further advance their cloud transformation journey.”

Nextlink Technology Inc. is an AWS Premier Consulting Partner, certified Managed Service Provider (MSP) and has AWS Level 1 Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP) and Government Consulting Competency.

“The investment of AWS in local infrastructure will help drive the digital transformation of Taiwan companies, boosting the development of various industries spanning from traditional industries to emerging digital sectors,” said Shasta Ho, the CEO of Nextlink Technology Inc. “We look forward to continuing working with AWS to help enterprises across industries deeply utilize the new AWS Asia Pacific (Taipei) Region. This local advantage will address customer needs in data localization, low latency, compliance, and high performance computing workloads. We also look forward to using AWS world-leading cloud technologies to power customers’ digital transformation journeys while contributing to the diversification of Taiwan’s economy.”

SAP has been a strategic partner of AWS for more than a decade, with thousands of enterprise customers worldwide running their SAP workloads on AWS.

“SAP is thrilled to see AWS establish new data centers in Taiwan,” said George Chen, SAP global vice president and managing director for Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau. “This investment provides Taiwan enterprises with greater choice, lower service latency, and enhanced operational flexibility. As a long-term strategic partner, SAP is committed to accelerating cloud transformation for these businesses. Through RISE with SAP, we can help customers seamlessly migrate to the cloud, enjoying greater flexibility, scalability, and reduced operational costs. By combining SAP’s enterprise solutions with the robust cloud platform of AWS, we’ll jointly empower Taiwan’s enterprises to unlock innovative AI applications and run their core businesses securely and reliably locally, driving Taiwan enterprise cloud transformation together.”

Supporting sustainable innovation in Taiwan

As Taiwan progresses toward its goal of net-zero emissions by 2050, AWS Cloud solutions are empowering organizations to enhance operational efficiency while reducing environmental impact. The new AWS Asia Pacific (Taipei) Region incorporates the AWS commitment to sustainability, helping organizations meet both technical and environmental objectives.

Ace Energy is a pioneer in Taiwan’s energy management sector. Since 2013, Ace Energy has been using AWS services such as Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3), Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2), and AWS IoT Core to provide innovative energy solutions through their Energy Saving Performance Contract model. Ace Energy has deployed energy management solutions across 1,000 locations, helped a semiconductor manufacturer reduce steam consumption by 65 percent, achieved 22 million new Taiwan dollars in annual energy savings, and decreased carbon emissions by 8,000 tons through their waste heat recovery technology.

Taiwan Power Company (Taipower) is Taiwan’s state power utility and has revolutionized its operations through AWS since 2018. By implementing smart grid technologies with drones, robotics, and virtual reality for smart patrol, Taipower has enhanced customer experience through the “Taiwan Power” application. The company has improved operational efficiency through data-driven decision-making and earned six consecutive Platinum Awards in the Corporate Sustainability category at the Taiwan Corporate Sustainability Awards.

Building cloud skills together

Since 2014, AWS has built comprehensive programs for cloud education and skills development in Taiwan. For example, educational programs such as AWS Academy, AWS Educate, and AWS Skill Builder have helped train more than 200,000 people in Taiwan on cloud skills. These programs will expand alongside our infrastructure investments to build a foundation for Taiwan’s digital future.

Taiwan boasts a vibrant AWS community that welcomes your involvement. Take part in knowledge-sharing and networking at local AWS User Groups in Taipei, engage with the four celebrated AWS Heroes in Taiwan, or consider becoming part of the growing community of AWS enthusiasts by joining the ranks of the 17 AWS Community Builders already contributing to Taiwan’s cloud ecosystem. All these community connections provide valuable opportunities to accelerate your cloud journey through local expertise and collaborative learning.

Stay tuned
The AWS Asia Pacific (Taipei) Region is ready to support your business. You can find a detailed list of the services available in this Region on the AWS Services by Region page. For news about AWS Region openings, check out the Regional news of the AWS News Blog.

Start building on the Asia Pacific (Taipei) Region now.

–Betty