Microsoft unveiled yesterday Southeast Asia 3, its second cloud region in Malaysia, to be located in Johor Bahru, says Laurence Si, managing director of Microsoft Malaysia, as per reports. The new region which is part of the tech behemoth’s US$ 2.2 billion four-year investment plan in Malaysia announced in May 2024, will deliver Microsoft’s most comprehensive and strategic cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) services, to support advanced workloads and reinforce Malaysia’s regional leadership in the digital economy.
The region is part of Microsoft’s Asia infrastructure road map which includes Azure region launches in Malaysia and Indonesia in 2025, and planned expansions in India and Taiwan in 2026. The Southeast Asia 3 region will add to Microsoft Azure’s more than 70 global regions.
Si said that Southeast Asia 3 will be connected to Microsoft’s global Azure backbone network, spanning more than 600,000 km of subsea and terrestrial fibre. It will use renewable biofuel-powered backup systems and closed-loop zero-water cooling to minimise water usage, among other ecofriendly measures. No timeline for the development was given.
In May, Microsoft launched the first cloud region in the country, called Malaysia West consisting of three data centres in Greater Kuala Lumpur.
In the last two years, the tech giant has bought land in Johor to build data centers. Among them were a 123-acre site in Kulai’s Eco Business Park VI, a 138.5-acre in Tebrau’s Eco Business Park I, and a 22.5-acre plot in the Nusa Cemerlang Industrial Park.
Commenting on the new cloud region, Gobind Singh Deo, Malaysia’s Minister of Digital, said, “This milestone underscores Malaysia’s continued progress in the digital economy. We are pleased to collaborate with the industry and Microsoft as a trusted technology partner in building Malaysia’s leadership as a secure and reliable location for digital assets of organizations across the region.”
“Southeast Asia is one of the most dynamic regions in the world. Our expanded investment reflects Microsoft’s commitment to helping governments, businesses, and communities innovate responsibly, build with confidence, and accelerate their AI Transformation journey—empowering organizations to emerge as Frontier firms,” said Judson Althoff, CEO of Microsoft’s Commercial Organization. He added that Malaysia is moving faster than many markets in workplace AI use.
Mayank Wadhwa, president of Microsoft Asean, told The Business Times that the expansion in Malaysia should be viewed as part of a coordinated effort to establish a connected cloud and AI backbone across South-east Asia, rather than as a competition between countries. Describing ASEAN as leading in AI transformation, Mayank said Microsoft is very bullish on the region and would only succeed in the next five to 10 years if Asean and Asia succeed.