RIYADH: The Council of Ministers has approved a reduced electricity tariff bundle for Saudi-based public cloud computing operators. The decision is part of Vision 2030 ambitions to drive growth across the Saudi digital economy. Based on the new tariff bundle, cloud computing operators licensed by the Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) will be charged 18 halala ($0.048) per kilowatt/hour — one of the cheapest rates in the world. The approval follows two key decisions by Google and Alibaba to bring cloud services to the Kingdom through a combined investment of $1.5 billion, the largest regional tech investment to date. A CITC study on the regulatory status of cloud computing found that the sector will play a key role in building the new Saudi digital economy, and will encourage innovation. According to the study, the pandemic has expedited the global trend toward digital transformation and data use. The study used the Kingdom as a benchmark and compared its status with 10 countries, including the UK, the US, South Korea, Japan, Germany, Denmark and Australia.