Amazon to Launch Athens Data Hub and Explore Tech Investments in Greece
Amazon is set to launch its Athens Local Zone cloud hub in July, following a meeting Monday between Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Amazon senior VP Panos Panay at the Maximos Mansion.
The AWS Athens Local Zone will allow businesses and public sector organizations in Greece to store and process data locally, meet data residency requirements, and run applications with very low latency. The facility will also offer access to cloud computing, storage, networking, and AI services.
"Upcoming updates to Kindle and Alexa will let users interact in Greek more naturally" — Amazon's Panos Panay
Beyond the July launch, the two sides discussed a range of potential future investments. These included infrastructure tied to Amazon's satellite internet initiative, renewable energy projects, and the possible development of research centers and advanced technology facilities across Greece.
Greek language support across Amazon's product ecosystem also came up, with Panay confirming that upcoming updates to Kindle and Alexa will let users interact in Greek more naturally, without the automated workarounds currently required.
Mitsotakis pointed to Greece's universities and workforce as central to the country's growing startup ecosystem, arguing they make Greece an attractive destination for international tech investment. Greece has been actively courting major tech companies in recent years as it looks to establish itself as a regional data and technology hub.
Amazon already counts more than one million machines across its global facilities, and the Athens investment adds to a string of major tech commitments the country has secured in recent years.
