SAO PAULO, June 14 (Reuters) – Alphabet Inc’s (GOOGL.O) Google Cloud announced on Tuesday it has invested 1.6 billion reais ($312.65 million) in technical infrastructure since 2017 in Brazil, as well as the opening of a new office and engineering center in the country.

Google Cloud investments have been aimed at “helping the company’s customers diversify their service portfolios, extend their digital capabilities, and drive new business,” the company said at the Google for Brazil event in Sao Paulo, the country’s financial capital.

“During this (five-year) period, an amount of 1.6 billion reais was allocated to improve Google Cloud’s technical infrastructure in Brazil.”

Google also announced the opening of a new engineering center in Sao Paulo and a new Google Cloud office in 2023.

In January, Google said it was set to hire 200 engineers in Brazil this year, as it seeks to bolster its privacy, security, and anti-abusive content technologies. read more

The 2023 hiring push would double the current number of engineers working in Latin America’s largest country with a focus on “local talents” that could create products not only for Brazil, but for the world.

“The investment (in a new engineering center) is another step in Google’s plan to expand its engineering operations in Brazil. … This will be the company’s second engineering center in the country,” said Google, which has offices in Belo Horizonte since 2006.

Google’s investment plans will stiffen competition between Google Cloud and Amazon Web Services, which already has operations in Brazil and in 2020 announced a 1 billion reais ($195.40 million) investment in data centers in Sao Paulo. read more

In February, Brazil’s Space Agency signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Amazon.com Inc’s (AMZN.O) cloud network unit to foster the long-term development of the country’s space program.

($1 = 5.1176 reais)

Reporting by Steven Grattan
Editing by Bernadette Baum

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