Microsoft is investing $1 billion over the next five years in Malaysia as part of a partnership programme with government agencies and the private sector.
The new data centre region will provide local customers on Malaysia with access to Azure, Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, and Power Platform, with the ability for them to store data locally.
In a press statement, Microsoft said the announcement forms part of the company's Bersama Malaysia initiative, which aims to grow the country's inclusive digital economy and skill a million in the workforce and ‘create economic opportunities for people and businesses’ by 2023.
Efforts will be focussed on areas relating to cloud and AI through work with the Human Resources Development Fund, Social Security Organisation, Junior Achievement Malaysia, TalentCorp Malaysia, MAMPU, Grab Malaysia, Biji-Biji Enterprise, and local universities.
The announcement follows an approval from the Malaysian government in February for Microsoft, Google, Amazon and Telekom Malaysia to build and manage hyperscale data centres in the country.