Malaysia Plugs Into the Global Grid
- By Lachlan Colquhoun
- May 23, 2024
![](/sites/default/files/inline-images/Kuala%20Lumpur.jpg)
The world’s digital infrastructure company Equinix has responded to Malaysia’s development as a strategic regional hub for digital interconnection by opening two new data centers.
Cheam Tat Inn, managing director of Equinix Malaysia, said the new International Business Exchange™ (IBX®) data centers in Johor and Kuala Lumpur would see Malaysia become part of the company’s network of interconnected data centers around the world.
“This will provide digital infrastructure for local companies looking to expand their digital presence globally as well as enabling multinationals to establish a presence in Malaysia,” Cheam said in an interview with CDOTrends.
The two new IBX® in Malaysia will be part of Equinix’s 260+ data centers in 71 metropolitan areas across 33 countries worldwide. It also comes at a time when companies see it as a preferred destination for semiconductors, data centers and AI with the growth of the digital economy and favorable government policies.
Three drivers of the digital economy
Cheam cited the “nascent growth of AI-driven infrastructure” as a significant driver, with the generative AI market set to reach USD1.3 trillion over the next decade, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.
He said the market growth highlighted data centers' importance in enabling the “transformative potential of AI.”
“Specifically in Malaysia, we’re seeing an increasing demand for data center infrastructure from companies outside Malaysia looking to deploy their AI applications here,” said Cheam.
Another driver was the adoption of hybrid multi-cloud strategies, where data centers played a “pivotal role” in storage and management in a sector for the market with anticipated investments of USD200 billion by 2024.
“This underscores the strategic importance of data centers as connectivity hubs for high-speed and reliable network connections,” said Cheam.
A third driver in the region was “everything as a service.”
“The capacity demands of emerging technologies for AI and cloud computing, edge computing and advanced analytics and the need for the rapid launch of digital services is creating a situation where enterprises can no longer predict the infrastructure requirements,” said Cheam.
“This makes it more difficult to host everything in-house, so by deploying subscription-based digital infrastructure, enterprises are finding that they can achieve greater flexibility and meet dynamic demands and capacity.”
Government support
Cheam noted the supportive policies of the Malaysian Government through the MyDIGITAL strategy, which pursues the nation’s ambitions to become a regional digital hub by fostering the transformation of innovative local companies and providing a platform for international connectivity.
The strategy aligned very closely with Equinix's mission. The company is “proud to be part of Malaysia’s journey to a digitally empowered future” and supports the country’s pledge to climate neutrality by 2050.
Supporting business growth
The new Equinix IBX® would deliver “state-of-the-art digital infrastructure solutions” to support Malaysian businesses in their home market and their ambitions to grow internationally.
Equinix would bring its global portfolio of services to Malaysia, including data center services, interconnection services, and a range of digital services.
“Enterprises can leverage our platform to build digital infrastructure and adopt strategies like multi-cloud, private AI, and others,” said Cheam.
“Our on-demand interconnection service, Equinix Fabric®, allows businesses to interconnect with our global ecosystems of 2,000 network services, over 3,000 cloud and IT services and over 4,800 enterprises,” said Cheam.
Equinix is working closely with our global service providers, partners in enterprises in the global ecosystem, as well as local service providers like Time and Maxis—among others—to service our customers in Malaysia,” Cheam said.
All of these initiatives place Equinix at the heart of Malaysia’s rapidly developing digital economy, serving both domestic and international organizations as they look to digital solutions to grow and transform their businesses.
Watch the full interview with Equinix's Cheam Tat Inn and find out why the company is bullish about Malaysia digital ambitions here.
Image credit: iStockphoto/faizzaki
Lachlan Colquhoun
Lachlan Colquhoun is the Australia and New Zealand correspondent for CDOTrends and the NextGenConnectivity editor. He remains fascinated with how businesses reinvent themselves through digital technology to solve existing issues and change their business models.