Tech company Yondr Group has secured a loan facility of up to $150 million from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) for the construction of its hyperscale data centre campus in Johor, Malaysia. The campus, located in Sedenak Tech Park, will be the largest hyperscale data centre campus in Southeast Asia, with a power capacity of over 300MW on 72.5 acres of land. The loan from IFC reflects Malaysia's growing prominence in the global digital economy and its ambition to become a digital-first economy. Yondr expressed enthusiasm for future collaborations with IFC in Malaysia and other developing nations [3add2c11].
Telekom Malaysia (TM) and Singtel’s regional data center arm Nxera have announced a joint venture to develop a hyper-connected AI-ready data center campus in Johor, Malaysia. The first data center campus will be located in Iskandar Puteri, Johor, and will offer 64 MW of capacity, scalable up to 200 MW. The campus will be built to the latest standards for reliability, security, and sustainability. Customers will have access to TM’s Cloud Alpha Edge solution and Nxera’s Paragon cloud orchestration platform. The partnership aims to cater to the growing demand for cloud, digitalization, and artificial intelligence (AI) in the region [21678199] [3add2c11].
Tech giants like Amazon and Reliance Industries are driving the boom in data centre investment in India, outpacing Japan, Singapore, and Hong Kong. The increasing consumption of payments, e-commerce, and other digital services in India has fueled the demand for data centres. Additionally, the country's large talent pool has attracted tech companies to set up offices in India. However, this trend poses challenges to clean power goals in Asia. Other companies like Oracle, Alibaba, NTT Data, and Microsoft have also made significant investments in data centres in Japan and Asia. Tokyo is emerging as a data centre hub, challenging Beijing's position in the region [44ee74e3].
Tech giants like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft are facing backlash in Chile over the environmental impact of their data centres. Over the past 12 years, 16 data centres have been approved in Santiago's metropolitan area, using millions of litres of water annually. However, Chile is currently experiencing a drought expected to last until 2040. Activists in Chile are pushing for environmental compensation and transparency around the water and energy consumption of data centres. They are demanding more accountability from companies like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft [198c1bb5].
The government of Chile plans to launch a national data centre plan to regulate the industry and address environmental concerns. Activists are calling for stricter legislation and more robust environmental impact studies for data centres. Some companies, like Google, have attempted to make environmental reparations. For example, Google has invested in planting a forest to offset air pollution caused by its data centre in Quilicura [198c1bb5].
While tech giants are investing heavily in data centres in Southeast Asia, Vietnam has emerged as an attractive location due to its strategic geographical location, flexible policies, and young population. Vietnam is considered an appealing data centre location for technology giants like Google, Amazon, and Microsoft. The country offers reasonable construction costs compared to other Asian countries. However, rapid growth in the data centre industry comes with challenges such as data privacy, cybersecurity, and resource consumption management [435b07af].
The robust growth of Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications has been a pivotal driver in the vigorous expansion of the data centre infrastructure globally. Projections indicate a continued growth trajectory, with increases in the 7-8% range through 2030. Vietnam's market for IDCs is notably evolving, recognized as one of the top ten emerging markets with an annual growth rate of 13.7%. Current metrics released by the Ministry of Information and Communications reveal that Vietnam houses 32 IDCs, representing merely 1% of the global count. Despite these developments, a need for even larger-scale IDCs remains, as pointed out by Minister of Information and Communications. Vietnam's 2023 Telecommunications Law, effective July 2024, now formally recognizes the concept of digital infrastructure. Large IDCs are characterized by a minimum capacity of 5,000 racks. With data doubling every three years worldwide and at an even faster rate in Vietnam, a minimum of three new IDCs yearly is essential to meet the burgeoning demands [7c716296].
Tech giants are also investing in Southeast Asia's growing tech market. Companies like Apple, Microsoft, and Nvidia are drawn to the region's business-friendly regimes, growing talent pool, and rising incomes. Southeast Asia, with a population of about 675 million people, is attracting more tech investment than ever, with companies set to spend up to $60 billion on data centres in the next few years. The region's governments are pro cross-border investments, and Southeast Asia is becoming a major battleground for tech companies in areas such as AI and the cloud. Southeast Asia's accelerating AI adoption has the potential to add about $1 trillion to the region's economy by 2030. The region is also a sizeable market for gadgets and online services, with about 65% of Southeast Asia projected to be middle class by 2030. Apple, Microsoft, and other tech companies are expanding their presence in the region and partnering with local governments to train millions of people in AI skills. Southeast Asia is expected to become the second-largest non-US source of data centre revenue in the world by 2028 [14e7e2d5] [fc1e5158].