China's GDS to invest RM1.38 bil in hyperscale data centre in Iskandar Puteri

JOHOR BAHRU - GDS Holdings Ltd, a leading developer and operator of high-performance data centres in China, will develop a "hyperscale” data centre campus at Nusajaya Tech Park, Iskandar Puteri, with an investment of RM1.38 billion.

Johor state committee chairman of investment, trade and consumer affairs Lee Ting Han said the development of the hyperscale data centre campus would involve a total net floor area of about 22,500 square metres with 54 megawatts of total IT power capacity.Hyperscale data centres are massive business-critical facilities designed to efficiently support vast volumes of data and are often associated with big data-producing companies such as Google, Microsoft, and Facebook.GDS has a 20-year track record, and its customers comprise hyperscale cloud service providers, large internet companies, financial institutions, telecommunications carriers, and IT service providers, among others.The first phase of the project is expected to be completed in early 2024, Lee said in a Facebook posting in conjunction with the project’s groundbreaking ceremony here today."We see this project as a validation of Johor’s attractiveness as a top international and domestic investment destination, driven by our world-class infrastructure and business-friendly regulatory environment."Investments like this signal that Johor wants to be a progressive and technologically advanced state that constantly seeks added value,” said the Paloh state assemblyman.Meanwhile, a separate joint statement by the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) and the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) said the project marked the beginning of the Shanghai-headquartered company’s long term investment plan in Malaysia and Southeast Asia and that included the development of a potential Phase 2 of the Nusajaya data centre campus.The agencies said the new data centre is also projected to create 64 high-skilled jobs and will serve potential clients from China as well as globally.They said GDS’s presence in Malaysia and the construction of the hyperscale data centre in Nusajaya will be a tremendous contribution to the development of Malaysia’s digital economy.The development of this project is supported by the Digital Investments Office (DIO), a collaborative platform between MIDA and MDEC.GDS chairman and CEO William Huang said Malaysia is the ideal nation for the company’s regionalisation plan, thanks to its strategic location, world class infrastructure, and access to high-skilled, multi-cultural and multi-lingual talent."These factors, including Nusajaya’s proximity to Johor Bahru and Singapore, will be great for existing GDS customers looking to expand in the region. We are thankful for Malaysia’s robust ecosystem in supporting our presence here,” Huang added.- Bernama