PETALING JAYA: As Malaysia continues to grow as a strategic regional hub for digital interconnection between businesses, global digital infrastructure company Equinix Inc plans to open a data centre in Kuala Lumpur in the first quarter of 2024.
This follows its announcement last year to enter Malaysia with a data centre in Johor.
Spurred by strong cloud growth and e-commerce adoption, as well as its continued investment in 5G, Malaysia is one of the fastest growing data centre markets in the Asean region, with much of the development attributed to Johor and Kuala Lumpur. Knight Frank SEA-5 Data Centre Opportunity Index Equinix’s expansion is expected to provide greater digital infrastructure capacity in Malaysia to address rising demand from local and global companies expanding in the country.
As Malaysia enters Phase 2 of its MyDigital blueprint for a digital economy, demand for digital infrastructure is expected to remain robust. According to Synergy Research, Malaysia is already the third largest data center colocation market in the Asean region, and is forecast to have a compound annual growth rate of about 11% from 2022 to 2027.
With extensive global experience in supporting 5G development, Equinix’s new facility aims to accelerate the digital vision laid out in the government’s MyDigital blueprint to establish Malaysia as a hub for colocation in Asean and a regional digital economic powerhouse. The new facility in Kuala Lumpur, named KL1, together with the previously announced JH1 in Johor, will provide digital infrastructure that businesses need to capitalise on the country’s digital economy.
Equinix president for Asia Pacific Jeremy Deutsch said, “Over the past several years, we have witnessed Malaysia emerge as an increasingly strategic location for global digital infrastructure, and we believe it to be an attractive destination for data centre growth and investment. Following our initial investment in Johor, we are excited to add another data centre in Kuala Lumpur. By expanding Platform Equinix in the two most strategic metros in Malaysia, we will enable Malaysian businesses, as well as multinationals with a presence in Malaysia, to leverage a trusted platform to bring together and interconnect the foundational infrastructure to power their success.
“We believe the two data centre will fuel Equinix’s existing data centre momentum and support Malaysia’s aspirations as a digitally driven connectivity hub.”
Synergy Research Group chief analyst & research director John Dinsdale said, “Malaysia is a vibrant market for digital infrastructure, driven by a strong economy, growing demand for digital services, a favourable location and increasing investments from the world’s leading hyperscale operators. That is opening up major long-term growth opportunities for leading data center operators.”
Malaysian Investment Development Authority CEO Datuk Wira Arham Abdul Rahman said, “Equinix’s decision to expand its data centre investment in Malaysia with locations in Johor and Kuala Lumpur demonstrates the company’s confidence in Malaysia’s potential as a top-tier data center destination. The establishment of the two new data centres will play a pivotal role in accelerating the development of the nation’s digital economy.
“These data centres will act as catalysts for digital innovation, enabling businesses to harness the power of advanced technologies such as cloud computing, artificial intelligence and big data analytics.”
Equinix president for Asia Pacific Jeremy Deutsch
