Malaysia lands another Big Tech deal with Oracle’s $6.5 billion investment

On Wednesday, Oracle announced that it will invest at least $6.5 billion in a public cloud region in Malaysia. A cloud region is the real-world location where cloud installations reside. Oracle said the new facilities would enable its Malaysian customers to use AI services and help Malaysian organizations modernize their digital. applications.

“Malaysia offers unique growth opportunities for organizations looking to accelerate their expansion with the latest digital technologies,” Garrett Ilg, Oracle’s executive vice president and general manager for Japan and Asia Pacific, said in a statement.

Malaysia’s investment, trade and industry minister said Oracle’s investment will support the country’s ambitious plan to create 3,000 smart factories by 2030.

Oracle’s cloud investment follows a similar-sized commitment from Amazon. In late August, the US company’s cloud computing division pledged $6.2 billion in investment for Malaysia. Microsoft and Google have also announced multi-billion dollar investments in Malaysia’s cloud infrastructure.

Malaysia is working to position itself as a technology hub in Southeast Asia. In addition to data centers, Malaysia is also looking to invest in semiconductors in a bid to move up the chip supply chain.

The country is working on a national cloud office and artificial intelligence strategy, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said Tuesday at the groundbreaking ceremony for Google’s new $2 billion data center complex. The American company claims the investment will create 26,500 jobs and generate $3.2 billion in economic activity by 2030.

Cloud Investments in Southeast Asia

Other Southeast Asian economies are attracting cloud-related investment.

In May, Amazon pledged to invest $9 billion in Singapore’s existing cloud infrastructure by 2028. The Southeast Asian city-state has been a regional data hub for the US company since 2010.

On Monday, Google said it would invest $1 billion in Thailand to build a new data center and expand the country’s cloud infrastructure. Microsoft also says it has a “significant commitment” to building new cloud and AI infrastructure in Thailand, according to CEO Satya Nadella in May.

Microsoft is also pledging $1.7 billion in cloud and AI-related investments in Indonesia.

The investment in data centers in Southeast Asia is part of a global push to invest in computing capacity to power new AI services. Last month, a consortium of companies including Microsoft and BlackRock pledged to raise $100 billion in capital to invest in new data centers.