COMMENT | The rise of data centers in Johor and the Klang Valley over the past three years has been nothing short of astonishing and has created many international headlines for Malaysia.
However, to fully realize the positive economic spillover and multiplier effects of these data center investments, we need more comprehensive digital economy and infrastructure policies, better coordinated across different ministries and agencies.
I disagree with the general view that data centers will provide only limited benefit in terms of job creation and will only use up the country’s much-needed and scarce energy and water resources.
For many of the hyperscalers such as Alphabet (Google), AWS, Microsoft and Meta (Facebook, Instagram), their data center investments in Malaysia are part of a larger strategy to grow their workforce and digital economy activities in the country, especially in the cloud and generative artificial intelligence (AI) ecosystem.
These large-scale investments also provide an opportunity to ‘pitch’ Malaysia to the senior leadership team of these global giants, including Satya Nadella (CEO of Microsoft), Ruth Porat (Chief Investment Officer of Alphabet) and Jensen Huang (CEO of Nvidia) during their visit here.
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