Cloud regions in the UAE and Saudi Arabia
Hosting in-country can matter for regulation, for government and bank clients, and for speed. Here is where the main cloud providers have regions in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, what is announced, and how to choose.
The short answer
In the UAE, AWS (me-central-1), Microsoft Azure (UAE North in Dubai and UAE Central in Abu Dhabi), Oracle (Dubai and Abu Dhabi) and Alibaba Cloud run regions today. In Saudi Arabia, Google Cloud (Dammam), Oracle (Jeddah and Riyadh), Alibaba Cloud and Huawei Cloud run regions, and AWS and Azure have announced Saudi regions for late 2026.
Egypt has no hyperscaler region yet; Egyptian companies usually host in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain or Europe, or with local data centres.
Regions by provider
| Provider | UAE | Saudi Arabia |
|---|---|---|
| AWS | Middle East (UAE), me-central-1 | Announced for 2026; Bahrain (me-south-1) nearby |
| Microsoft Azure | UAE North (Dubai), UAE Central (Abu Dhabi) | Saudi Arabia East announced for 2026 |
| Google Cloud | Not yet; Doha (me-central1) nearby | Dammam (me-central2) |
| Oracle Cloud | Dubai, Abu Dhabi | Jeddah, Riyadh |
| Alibaba Cloud | Dubai | Riyadh |
| Local and sovereign clouds | Core42 / G42, e&, Khazna and others | stc cloud and other providers licensed by CST |
Announced regions open on the provider’s timetable; check the provider’s region page before you plan around one. Services available in a new region can lag behind older ones.
How to choose a region
- Start with the rules: sector regulators (central banks, health, government) may require data in the country
- Check what your clients’ contracts say about data location
- List the services you need (databases, AI, backups) and confirm they exist in that region
- Measure latency from your users’ cities; the UAE and Saudi regions are a few milliseconds apart
- Compare prices: in-country regions can cost more than larger regions in Europe
- Plan disaster recovery: a second region, or a second availability zone at least
For Egyptian companies
Without an in-country hyperscaler region, most Egyptian SMBs host in the Gulf or Europe. Personal data rules (Data Protection Law 151 of 2020) can affect cross-border transfers; check with your lawyer, and keep a record of where each system’s data lives.
Sources
- AWS: global infrastructure regions
- Microsoft Azure: geographies and regions
- Google Cloud: locations
- Oracle Cloud: public regions
Rules change. Check the official text, or ask your accountant or lawyer, before you rely on a figure.
Move to the cloud without the surprises
keyt plans and runs cloud migrations for SMBs in the Gulf and Egypt: the right region, a tested cut-over, and backups you have actually restored.