走向一带一路 | 沙特阿拉伯如何成为中东和北非地区增长最快的数据中心市场
走向一带一路：沙特阿拉伯如何成为中东和北非地区增长最快的数据中心市场
How Saudi Arabia became the Fastest Growing DC Market in MENA
在一带一路倡议的推动下，沙特阿拉伯逐渐成为中东和北非地区增长最快的数据中心市场，这让我感到非常振奋和欣喜。首先，沙特阿拉伯的地理位置非常重要。作为中东和北非地区的重要国家，它连接着许多国家和地区，成为了一个数据中心服务的重要交通枢纽。这为沙特阿拉伯吸引国内外投资者提供了巨大的优势，也为数据中心市场的快速发展奠定了基础。其次，沙特阿拉伯政府采取了一系列积极的政策和措施，以吸引更多的投资和促进数据中心市场的发展。政府制定的政策和法规为数据中心投资者提供了便利和保护，为市场的繁荣创造了有利条件。
此外，沙特阿拉伯还注重发展数字基础设施，特别是网络和通信设施的建设。这为数据中心提供了高速、稳定的网络环境，为数据存储和传输提供了良好的条件。同时，沙特阿拉伯还注重培养本地的技术人才，提高数据中心服务的质量和水平。沙特阿拉伯作为地区增长最快的数据中心市场，也展现了其广阔的市场潜力和丰富的资源。它吸引了许多国内外企业在这里建设数据中心，推动了经济的发展和创造了就业机会。最后，沙特阿拉伯重视信息安全和数据保护，为数据中心提供了可靠的环境和保障。这为投资者和用户在沙特阿拉伯的数据中心市场中享有信心和安全感。总的来说，沙特阿拉伯在一带一路倡议的推动下，通过政策支持、基础设施建设和市场需求的提升，成功成为中东和北非地区增长最快的数据中心市场之一。这不仅促进了经济的发展，也为地区的数字化转型和信息技术产业的发展做出了重要贡献。我个人对于沙特阿拉伯成为中东和北非地区增长最快的数据中心市场感到非常兴奋。这显示了一带一路倡议的推动力量和沙特阿拉伯在信息技术领域的领先地位。同时，这也为其他国家提供了宝贵的经验和启示，鼓舞人心地展示了数字化转型的巨大潜力。
云和数据中心行业在中东和北非 （MENA） 蓬勃发展，沙特阿拉伯王国 （KSA） 已成为希望在该地区建设和运营云和数据中心设施的全球参与者们的心中最具吸引力的目的地之一。
The Cloud and Data Center industry is booming in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has emerged as one of the most attractive destinations for global players who want to build and operate Cloud and Data Center facilities in the region.
事实上，根据全球领先的独立房地产咨询公司莱坊（Knight Frank）最近的一份报告，沙特阿拉伯是中东和北非地区增长最快的数据中心市场。它说，自今年年初以来，KSA的实时IT容量增长了29.7%，达到109兆瓦！
In fact, according to a recent report by Knight Frank, a leading global independent property consultancy, Saudi Arabia is the fastest growing data center market in MENA. It says that KSA’s live IT capacity has risen by 29.7 per cent to 109 MW, since the turn of the year!
Saudi Arabia’s Data Center market
如今，沙特阿拉伯拥有近二十多个数据中心，由 Gulf Data Hub, GO Datacenter (Etihad Atheeb Telecom),、NourNET、Mobily等主要全球和区域参与者建立和运营。最近，谷歌推出了一个新的沙特云区域，微软2023 年 2 月宣布计划在沙特阿拉伯建立一个云区域。
Today, Saudi Arabia has close to two dozen data centers established and operated by major global and regional players such as Gulf Data Hub, GO Datacenter (Etihad Atheeb Telecom), NourNET, Mobily, etc. Recently, Google launched a new Saudi Cloud Region, and Microsoft that announced in February 2023 that it was planning a Cloud Region in KSA.
全球知名搜索网站 ResearchandMarkets.com最近发布的一份题为《2028 年沙特阿拉伯数据中心市场竞争预测和机遇》的报告显示，该地区的数据中心市场规模可能在未来四年内翻一番。该研究机构估计 2022 年沙特 DC 数据中心市场规模为 10.2 亿美元。它现在预计到 2028 年该市场可能以 13.5% 的复合平均增长率 （CAGR） 增长到 21.7 亿美元。
A recent report titled Saudi Arabia Data Center Market Competition Forecast and Opportunities 2028, by ResearchandMarkets.com, a globally renowned research agency, has revealed that the region’s data center market could double in size over the next four years. The research agency had valued the Saudi DC market size at US$ 1.02 Billion in 2022. It now projects that the market could grow to US$ 2.17 Billion by 2028 at a Compounded Average Growth Rate (CAGR) of 13.5 percent.
此前，Arizton Advisory and Research 对 2022 年沙特配送数据中心市场的估值为 13.1 亿美元，预计到 2028 年将以 7.98% 的复合年增长率增长到 20.8 亿美元。然而，Mordor Intelligence 则更为乐观。根据其研究，沙特阿拉伯数据中心市场预计将以 17.55% 的复合年增长率增长。该公司表示，沙特阿拉伯数据中心市场的IT负载能力将稳步增长，预计到2029年将达到855MW。此外，它发现，到 2029 年，已安装的机架数量预计将达到 170,963 个。预计到 2029 年，利雅得将容纳最大数量的机架。
Previously, Arizton Advisory and Research valued the KSA DC market at US$ 1.31 Billion in 2022, and expects it to grow to US$ 2.08 Billion by 2028 at a CAGR of 7.98 per cent. However, Mordor Intelligence is more optimistic. According to its research, the Saudi Arabia Data Center Market is projected to register a CAGR of 17.55 per cent. It says that the IT load capacity of the data center market in Saudi Arabia will have steady growth and is expected to reach 855 MW by 2029. Further, it finds that the number of installed racks is expected to reach 170,963 units by 2029. Riyadh is expected to house the maximum number of racks by 2029.
让我们仔细看看促进沙特阿拉伯数据中心市场增长的因素。
Let us take a closer look at factors that have contributed to the growth of Saudi Arabia’s Data Center market.
Historical and Geographical Factors
几个世纪以来，沙特阿拉伯一直是贸易和运输中心，因为它位于欧洲、非洲和亚洲的十字路口。它西临红海，东临波斯湾，从而促进了港口的发展。事实上，沿着沙特阿拉伯西海岸与红海平行的香料之路已有4000多年的历史！
Saudi Arabia has been a hub of trade and transport for centuries due to its location at the crossroads of Europe, Africa and Asia. It also has the Red Sea to the West and the Persian Gulf to the east, thus enabling the development of ports. In fact, the Incense Route that ran parallel to the Red Sea along Saudi Arabia’s west coast is more than 4000 years old!
所有这些因素使该地区走上了国际商人和贸易商的路线，这些商人和贸易商经营乳香、丝绸、宝石和香料，如豆蔻、肉桂、生姜、肉豆蔻、胡椒和姜黄，这些香料通常由远道印度的船只运来。
All these factors put the region on the routes of international merchants and traders dealing in frankincense, myrrh, silk, precious stones and spices such as cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, pepper and turmeric, often brought by boats from as far as India.
1938年石油的发现创造了更多的财富，经济也得到了增长。渐渐地，银行和金融服务、技术、房地产和基础设施等其他行业开始在沙特阿拉伯蓬勃发展，吸引了来自世界各地的投资者和工人。不断增长的经济体需要拥抱技术进步才能生存，因此开始了数字化转型之旅，导致了沙特阿拉伯数据中心市场的诞生。
The discovery of oil in 1938 generated more wealth, and the economy grew. Gradually, other sectors like banking and financial services, technology, real estate and infrastructure, began to thrive in Saudi Arabia, drawing investors and workers from across the world. A growing economy needed to embrace technological advancements to survive, and thus began a journey of digital transformation, leading to the birth of Saudi Arabia’s data center market.
前面提到的Knight Frank 报告追溯了沙特阿拉伯数据中心行业的增长，称“数据中心行业的第一次显著增长出现在 2000 年代中期，早期的数据中心主要服务于电信和金融行业。随后的几年，国内外投资扩大了市场，导致了Tier-III和Tier-IV认证数据中心的建设。报告称，“数据中心市场分为三个主要枢纽——利雅得、吉达和达曼——它们拥有80%的实时IT供应，分别为40MW、29MW和19MW。
The aforementioned Knight Frank report traces the growth of Saudi Arabia’s data center industry saying, “The first significant growth of the data centre sector emerged in the mid-2000s, with early data centres primarily servicing the telecommunications and financial industries. Subsequent years have seen foreign and domestic investment expand the market, leading to the construction of Tier-III and Tier-IV certified data centres.” The report says, “The data centre market is split between three main hubs – Riyadh, Jeddah, and Dammam – which host 80 per cent of live IT supply, or 40MW, 29MW and 19MW each, respectively.”
达曼，一个繁华的港口城市，也是一个数据中心枢纽。
Dammam, a busting port city is also a data center hub.
云计算、人工智能 （AI）、机器学习 （ML） 和物联网 （IoT） 等多项尖端技术的出现加剧了沙特阿拉伯的经济增长和数字化发展。随着越来越多的行业，包括建筑和基础设施开发、制造、零售等行业正在迅速采用这些新技术，生成和分析的数据量激增，这反过来又成倍地增加了对云服务和数据中心的需求。
Saudi Arabia’s economic growth and digital evolution are compounded by the advent of several cutting-edge technologies such as Cloud Computing, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML) and Internet of Things (IoT). As an increasing number of industries including those involved in construction and infrastructure development, manufacturing, retail etc. are rapidly adopting these new technologies, there is a surge in the amount of data generated and analysed, which in turn, exponentially increases the demand for Cloud services as well as data centers.
因此，沙特阿拉伯渴望可靠和强大的数字基础设施，以满足其快速现代化和增长的经济需求。
Therefore, Saudi Arabia is hungry for reliable and robust digital infrastructure to keep up with the needs of its swiftly modernising and growing economy.
但随着人们对气候变化的认识不断提高，人们感到有必要使经济多样化，使其既强大又可持续。因此，沙特版的 2030 年愿景诞生了，这是一项雄心勃勃的计划，旨在实现经济多元化、吸引外国投资、在专属商业和休闲区开发高科技现代基础设施，以及建设 NEOM 等未来城市。该计划于 2016 年首次宣布后，随后于 2021 年启动了沙特绿色倡议。沙特阿拉伯的公共投资基金（PIF）是一个主权基金，现在越来越多地投资于绿色能源和可持续发展项目。利雅得计划到 2060 年实现净零排放。
But with growing consciousness surrounding climate change, a need was felt to diversify the economy to make it both robust and sustainable. Thus was born Saudi Vision 2030, which is an ambitious plan for economic diversification, attracting foreign investment, developing high tech modern infrastructure in exclusive business and leisure zones, as well as building futuristic cities such as NEOM. After the program was first announced in 2016, it was followed up with the Saudi Green Initiative that was inaugurated in 2021. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) is a sovereign fund that is now increasingly investing in green energy and sustainable development projects. Riyadh plans to become Net Zero by 2060.
沙漠阳光明媚，因此沙特阿拉伯正在投资太阳能发电厂。2023 年，它宣布计划在 Al Shuaibah 建造一座 2.6 GW的太阳能发电厂，投资额为 22 亿美元。该工厂由ACWA Power（沙特上市公司）、PIF全资拥有的Water and Electricity Holding Company（Badeel）和沙特阿美的全资子公司沙特阿美电力公司（SAPCO）建设。
The desert is blessed with sunshine, and thus Saudi Arabia is investing in solar power plants. In 2023, it announced the plan to build a 2.6 GW solar power plant in Al Shuaibah with investments worth US$ 2.2 Billion. The plant is being built by ACWA Power (a Saudi listed company), the Water and Electricity Holding Company (Badeel), which is wholly owned by PIF, and Saudi Aramco Power Company (SAPCO), a wholly owned subsidiary of Aramco.
靠近大海也帮助沙特阿拉伯建设了强大的海底电缆基础设施并从中受益。如今，沙特阿拉伯在吉达、胡拜尔、哈克尔、延布和迪拜设有电缆登陆站，并于 2023 年 5 月连接到世界上最长的海底电缆，即 45,000 公里的光纤 2Africa 网络，当时它降落在吉达和延布。然后是连接吉达、延布、迪巴和哈克尔的 1,600 公里长的沙特愿景电缆。.
Proximity to the sea also helped Saudi Arabia build and benefit from a robust subsea cable infrastructure. Today, Saudi Arabia has cable landing stations in Jeddah, Al Khobar, Haql, Yanbu, and Duba, and in May 2023, also got connected to the world’s longest subsea cable, the 45,000 km fiber-optic 2Africa network, when it landed in Jeddah and Yanbu. Then there is the 1,600 km long Saudi Vision cable connecting Jeddah, Yanbu, Dibba and Haql
翻译：
葛鸽
中国移动通信集团上海有限公司 助理工程师
DKV（DeepKnowledge Volunteer）计划成员
校对：
贾梦檩
阿里云 暖通工程师
DKV（DeepKnowledge Volunteer）精英成员
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