KUALA LUMPAR: Google is set to invest $2 billion in building its first data center in Malaysia, aims to create 26,500 jobs across various sectors, including healthcare, education, and finance, Malaysian officials said on Thursday.
The announcement follows the country’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s ambitious goal of securing at least $107 billion in semiconductor industry investments. In April, PM Anwar outlined plans to establish Southeast Asia’s largest integrated circuit design park, offering incentives like tax breaks and subsidies to attract global tech companies and investors.
Ruth Porat, President and Chief Investment Officer of Google and its parent company Alphabet, stated, “Google’s first data center and Google Cloud region is our largest planned investment so far in Malaysia—a place Google has been proud to call home for 13 years.” She added that this investment builds on their partnership with the Malaysian government to advance its ‘Cloud First Policy’, including best-in-class cybersecurity standards.”
Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz, Malaysia’s Minister of Investment, Trade, and Industry, highlighted that this investment will significantly advance Malaysia’s digital ambitions as outlined in a 2030 master plan. He noted that the data center and cloud region will enable the country’s manufacturing and service industries to leverage AI and other advanced technologies to climb the global value chain.
Recently, Microsoft announced a $2.2 billion investment in AI and cloud computing in Malaysia, with CEO Satya Nadella committing to further investments in Thailand and Indonesia. Amazon also revealed plans to spend $9 billion in Singapore over the next four years to expand its cloud computing capabilities.
Google’s new facility will be located in a business park west of Kuala Lumpur and will support popular digital services such as Search, Maps, and Workspace. Once operational, Malaysia will join the 11 countries where Google has data centers serving users worldwide. The Google Cloud region will offer high-performance, low-latency cloud infrastructure, analytics, and AI services to large enterprises, startups, and public sector organizations.
Malaysia, a key player in the semiconductor industry, accounts for an estimated 13% of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Research by global consulting firm Kearney suggests AI could contribute $1 trillion to Southeast Asia’s GDP by 2030, with Malaysia expected to capture more than a tenth of this growth.
