The Gulf subsidiary of Netherlands-based consultancy KPMG and the cloud computing arm of Hangzhou, China-based Alibaba, have formed a partnership to share “technological capabilities and facilitate digital transformation across multiple industries in the UAE”.

According to Nader Haffar, CEO of KPMG Lower Gulf, the agreement is not a one-off programme but rather a “continuous process of integrating high volumes of data to address the ever-growing needs of high performance and secure cloud infrastructure”.

It is unclear if the agreement will require the formation of a joint venture to offer Alibaba’s services to potential customers across the country, or if Alibaba will become the preferred cloud platform for KPMG customers.

The cloud computing arms of US technology firms Amazon, Google and Microsoft are currently building data centres across the GCC states in response to growing demand for cloud services and data sovereignty issues in the region.

KPMG International also previously teamed up with Alibaba Cloud to develop cloud infrastructure solutions for clients to “expand into new markets, with a focus on data security, regulatory compliance and seamless integration.”