Alibaba launches new data center in Singapore

This follows two earlier rounds of investment for SingPost by Alibaba, totaling US$456 million. Now, the company has launched a new cloud data center and a “headquarters of international business” in Singapore, according to Tech In Asia. The centre comes online in early September.According to the article, Alibaba already had a base and some staff in Singapore since it launched a Southeast Asia spinoff of its Taobao marketplace in 2013.The centre will be run by Aliyun, its cloud computing arm and the data centre will provide a range of cloud computing services to companies operating in Southeast Asia, with an initial focus on Chinese businesses. When it opens next month, the centre will be connected with the existing six centres in Beijing, Hangzhou, Qingdao, Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Silicon Valley, said the company in a release.Additionally, Singapore will be the headquarters for Aliyun's overseas operations, the company said.“Singapore is a natural location for our international cloud operations headquarters,” said Aliyun vice president Ethan Yu.The new Singapore data center comes after four other centres in mainland China, and one each in Hong Kong and Silicon Valley.Meanwhile, Alibaba is making other moves to expand globally, appointing a senior executive from Nestle Wan Ling Martello as an independent member of its board of directors, said Forbes.She is currently Nestlé S.A. executive vice president responsible for Asia, Oceania and Sub-Saharan Africa. “As Alibaba grows globally, we need business leaders like Ms. Martello to be part of the internationalization process and help ensure we are successful,” Alibaba Group’s billionaire chairman Jack Ma was quoted as saying.