The Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) has approved 12 data center investment projects that include data center activities, cloud computing and data hosting with an investment of MYR90.2 billion ($20.9 billion) over the period from 2021 to June 30, 2024, national news agency Bernama reported.
The Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI) announced that of the total approved, six projects with an investment of MYR68.9 billion ($15.99 billion) — four in Johor and one each in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur — have been completed and are operating, the report added.
“Another six projects are in various stages of planning or construction, namely one project in Negeri Sembilan, two projects in Selangor and three projects in Johor,” MITI said in a written response on the Parliament website on Thursday.
Malaysia remains as the key data center growth market in ASEAN, with a steady stream of corporate announcements and new regulations, Macquarie said in a note last month.
The research house said that Malaysia is poised to be the second-fastest growing market in terms of data center – after India, and just ahead of Australia and Japan.
According to the note, there is an expectations from industry experts that points towards 5.6 gigawatt (GW) new data center energy demand from data centers in Malaysia over the next decade. This versus DC Bytes ten-year forecast of 3GW.
While limited renewable energy (mostly solar) capacity is a bottleneck, Macquarie noted that it is poised to begin easing from September with a major new policy launch.
Earlier this month, US tech giant Google has launched its first data center and cloud region in Malaysia.
With construction underway in Elmina Business Park, Selangor, the $2 billion investment in its data center and cloud infrastructure will help meet growing demand for Google Cloud capabilities and AI innovations, and other digital products and services in Malaysia, the firm said in a statement then.
According to Google, these investments are estimated to support more than $3.2 billion in positive economic impact and create 26,500 jobs by 2030.
Google has also announced a series of local digital skilling and sustainability partnerships that build on the strategic collaboration it established with the Government of Malaysia.
Malaysian data center market to further expand on demand surge — CBRE