Technology giant Microsoft announced on Wednesday that it will create 36,000 jobs in Qatar. The new cloud data center, created with support from the government of Qatar, will be one of the US firm's largest international projects.
Lana Khalaf, general manager of Microsoft Qatar, said it would help make the small Gulf nation "the digital hub of the region and the world".
"We're adding more than $18 billion to the economy over the next five years, and we're adding more than 36,000 new jobs over the next five years," she added.
A growing number of cloud data centers around the world act as giant warehouses full of servers that help companies, governments and institutions store and process information.
Amazon, Microsoft and Google are the leading operators of cloud data services. The Qatar operation will help make the country more self-sufficient in information technology and speed up processing, officials said.
Qatar, which will host this year's soccer World Cup, has reaped record profits from natural gas and oil in recent years, but is investing heavily to diversify its economy as part of its 2030 national plan.
