GDS Holdings break ground on Johor hyperscale data cetre

• To ease investors’ journey through MIDA's, MDEC’s expertise
• Supported by MIDA, MDEC's Digital Investment Office

GDS Holdings Ltd, a operator of high-performance data centres in China has announced the start of construction of its hyperscale data centre campus in Nusajaya, Johor.

In a statement, the company said the development of this project is supported by the Digital Investments Office (DIO), a collaborative platform between Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) and Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA).

In line with the DIO’s role to ease investors’ journey in Malaysia by combining MIDA’s global presence and MDEC’s subject matter expertise in the digital economy ecosystem, the DIO said it will work closely with GDS Holdings to facilitate its request for information during the planning phase of the project, and to provide support to ensure smooth implementation of the overall project in Malaysia.

According to Mahadhir Aziz, CEO of MDEC, GDS Holdings’ presence in Malaysia and the construction of the hyperscale data centre will have a great positive effect towards the development of Malaysia’s digital economy.

“The new centre signifies Malaysia’s competitive advantage in attracting data centre investments, in line with our aspirations under the Malaysia Digital initiative,” he said.

“It also brings with it the world-class infrastructure capabilities that will further strengthen Malaysia as the digital hub of Asean.”

Mahadhir also expressed his gratitude to Invest Johor and the Johor state economic planning division for their support and assistance for this project. 

“Building a thriving digital economy and infrastructure takes an entire nation – MDEC will continue driving more collaborations to further develop the country’s burgeoning data centre industry,” he said.

Lim Bee Vian, deputy CEO, investment development, MIDA said Malaysia is honoured to host GDS data centres in the country. 

“MIDA, through the Digital Investment Office, will continue our efforts in transforming new and existing economic clusters and facilitating strategic investment partners like GDS Holdings, as digital enablers to create high income jobs and encourage digital upskilling of the local workforce and businesses,” said Lim.  

Johor chief minister Hafiz Ghazi said that the project will serve as a catalyst for Johor and Malaysia to emerge as a hub for data centres as well as to stimulate the development of clusters of local public computing services companies. 

“The data centre will also help with job creation, a key priority of the state.

“The entry of GDS and its hyperscale data centre to Johor is timely - we see this as a validation of our state’s attractiveness as a top international and domestic investment destination,” he said.

GDS chairman and CEO William Huang said that Malaysia is the ideal nation for the major step of 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,” he said.

The groundbreaking ceremony that was held in Nusajaya, Johor on April 24, kickstarts Phase 1 of GDS Holdings’ hyperscale data centre campus, which is expected to be completed by 2024, it said.

This marks the beginning of the Shanghai-headquartered company’s long-term investment plan into Malaysia and Southeast Asia and includes the development of a potential Phase 2 of the Nusajaya data centre campus, it added.