KUALA LUMPUR, July 4 — BMI, a unit of Fitch Solutions, expects Malaysia to maintain its lead as a hub for digital infrastructure investment in Southeast Asia, with Johor remaining a prominent destination for data centre investment.
In a statement yesterday, BMI said the investment is driven by the new Singapore economic zone (SEZ), which will likely lead to more industrial parks being introduced and more areas being put up for acquisition to develop new data centres.
"Our estimates show over 3.2 gigawatt (GW) of planned capacity entering the Malaysian market, followed by Indonesia with 1.8GW and the Philippines lagging significantly with just under 180 megawatt (MW)," it said.
The statement said Alibaba Cloud will also increase its presence in Southeast Asia, with data centres being planned in Malaysia and the Philippines. It is also expected to support the region's rapidly growing digital economy and drive adoption of cloud services among local businesses.
The statement said Malaysia remains a popular destination for digital infrastructure investment with demand continuing to shift away from Singapore.
In a separate statement today, BMI said although the new power tariffs may lead to short-term challenges for data centre projects in Malaysia, its dominant position in emerging Southeast Asia is unlikely to be dramatically altered as demand for cloud computing remains strong.
"Some Malaysian data centre platforms will look to address demand from non-artificial intelligence (AI) related use or potentially less intensive AI use cases, to bypass the tariff.
"This development is expected to accelerate the adoption of renewable energy and investments in sustainability," it said.
The statement also added that adopting renewable energy sources is necessary as power continues to be the leading issue for many markets.
— Bernama
