Silhouettes of laptop and mobile device users are seen next to a screen projection of Microsoft logo. Photo: Reuters / Dado Ruvic / Illustration.

Microsoft plans to establish its first cloud region in Israel, Microsoft announced Wednesday. The Israel cloud region, set to launch in 2021, will be the company’s 56th region in the world.

Microsoft’s set of cloud services offers computing, networking, databases, analytics, and internet-of-things (IoT) services. Microsoft’s cloud serves more than 1 billion customers and 20 million businesses, according to the company’s statement. Israeli customers of its cloud services include Nasdaq-listed network and cloud security provider Check Point Software Technologies and Israeli defense contractor Rafael Advanced Defense Systems.

Microsoft has been active in Israel since 1989, and opened its Israeli research and development center, the company’s first outside of the US, in 1991. Last month, the company announced that Israeli entrepreneur Assaf Rappaport has stepped down as Microsoft’s head of research and development in Israel. In July, Microsoft named Ronit Atad as the general manager of Microsoft Israel.