Amazon.comInc. is planning to invest €150 million in a second distributionand storage center in Italy,Telecompaper reported July 22.

The proposed 60,000-square-meter building in Passo Corese,slated to open in autumn 2017, will serve Italy's central and southern regions.It is expected to hire 1,200 people within three years from its opening.

The facility is the first of Amazon's upcoming investmentsworth at least €500 million to support the Italian government's plan to boostdigital commerce in the country, Reuters reported July 21, citing sources.

The e-commerce giant is also planning to build data centersin Italy over the next 12 months for its cloud services division. The datacenters will be reportedly housed in old power stations owned by Enel SpA.

Amazon has invested about €450 million in Italy since itdebuted in the country in 2010, according to the Reuters report. It is set tobuild a new logisticscenter in Barcelona, Spain, and isalso considering anoperational expansion in Ireland.