During the official visit of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, to Malaysia, it was announced that Malaysia will receive full sovereignty over subscriber data hosted in Bahrain’s cloud computing centers.
Mohammed Ali Al Qaed, Chief Executive of Bahrain’s Information & eGovernment Authority (iGA), praised this development as a significant milestone strengthening Bahraini-Malaysian relations. He emphasized the strategic collaboration fostering growth in the digital economy, knowledge exchange, and digital infrastructure development between the two countries.
Al Qaed reaffirmed Bahrain’s commitment to advancing international cooperation in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and evolving its digital ecosystem into a competitive, future-ready hub. The initiative underscores global confidence in Bahrain’s legal, technical, and operational capabilities in cloud computing, reinforcing its position as a trusted regional digital hub.
Highlighting mutual trust and partnership, Al Qaed noted that Bahrain remains dedicated to data sovereignty, transparency, and compliance with the highest regulatory standards in line with its digital transformation vision. Bahrain’s secure digital infrastructure prioritizes rights protection and privacy, consistent with national laws and global best practices.
The decision aligns with Bahrain’s Decree No. (56) of 2018 governing cloud services for foreign entities and associated ministerial regulations. Al Qaed pointed to Bahrain’s pioneering legal framework that permits foreign cloud service usage while safeguarding sovereign data ownership rights.
