As we gather for SIJORI Week 2025 happening from 6 – 12 July 2025, it’s an opportune moment to reflect on the remarkable transformation of this region: Singapore, Johor, and Batam. Each city, with its own distinct constraints and capabilities, is united by a shared ambition: to become the digital infrastructure foundation of Southeast Asia. Collectively, they now form one of the most strategically important digital infrastructure corridors in the Asia Pacific.
- Singapore: With over 1.4 gigawatts (GW) of total data center capacity across more than 70 facilities, Singapore remains a regional anchor for connectivity and cloud infrastructure. The government is planning to unlock an additional 300 MW of capacity through energy efficiency and green innovation measures, reinforcing its commitment to sustainable digital growth.
- Johor: Once a quiet neighbor, Johor has grown exponentially—rising from just 10 MW in 2021 to over 1,800 MW in total projected capacity, including live, under construction, and planned developments. It now plays a vital role in supporting Singapore’s overflow demand and in anchoring the region’s next phase of AI-ready infrastructure.
- Batam: Positioned as Indonesia’s rising digital gateway, Batam now hosts approximately 300 MW of planned capacity currently under construction, with major builds by regional and global operators. Its competitive land and energy pricing, combined with proximity to Singapore, are attracting sustained investment.
What was once a fragmented tri-border zone is now evolving into one of the most consequential digital growth clusters in Southeast Asia driven by infrastructure scale, cross-border collaboration, and a shared vision for AI-powered transformation.
Singapore has long anchored this story. With its world-class infrastructure, regulatory clarity, and unmatched global connectivity, the Lion City has earned its reputation as the region’s digital capital. But even the most advanced ecosystems have their limits. Land is scarce. Power is tightly regulated. And a deliberate, cautious approach to new data center approvals means Singapore can no longer expand alone. To meet the rising demands of artificial intelligence and high-density computing, it must now look beyond its borders. Not just for land and power, but for long-term partners who can scale responsibly alongside it.
Just across the causeway, Johor has emerged as a natural extension of that growth. Over the last decade, it has worked steadily to emulate Singapore’s digital infrastructure playbook. With abundant land, improving utilities, and increased interest from international developers, Johor presents an attractive spillover destination. It has benefited from Singapore’s data center reprioritization, drawing attention and investment in tandem. But this growth has come with challenges. Talent shortages are becoming acute, construction costs are rising, and environmental constraints, particularly water security have come into sharper focus. Recent disruptions to water supply were more than isolated incidents; they underscored deeper structural vulnerabilities that must be addressed urgently if Johor is to support long-term digital capacity.
Then there is Batam. Less visible, but no less important. With significantly lower development costs than Johor, and a regulatory climate that encourages investment, Batam is positioning itself as the region’s value alternative. Several data center projects are already underway, drawn by affordability and operational flexibility. However, much of Batam’s connectivity still points inward, toward domestic Indonesian networks. To truly step onto the regional stage, it will need to integrate more tightly with international cable systems and align with broader interconnection strategies across SIJORI.
Layered over this regional narrative is a much larger geopolitical arc: the accelerating contest between China and the United States to shape the future of artificial intelligence. That competition is no longer limited to patents or large language models being built into the infrastructure itself.
Chinese players such as Alibaba Cloud and Zhipu AI are rapidly expanding their regional footprint. Alibaba has committed over USD 50 billion to overhaul its AI infrastructure globally, including increased investment across Southeast Asia. Zhipu AI is expanding through new offices in Singapore and Malaysia, and launching joint innovation centers in Indonesia and Vietnam.
American firms are reassessing their approach to infrastructure expansion. While some of the more established hyperscalers have adopted a cautious stance in light of evolving market dynamics, OpenAI is charting a decidedly more assertive course. Its recent infrastructure announcements point to a growing appetite for GPU-intensive data centers, optimized for real-time inference, high-throughput processing, and sustainable energy consumption. As global demand for AI compute intensifies, Southeast Asia strategically positioned along major digital trade routes is emerging as a key node in OpenAI’s ambitions. Within this, the SIJORI region stands out as a prime location for deploying low-latency AI infrastructure capable of serving both the Global South and broader international user bases.
This shift marks more than a transition from general-purpose cloud to AI-native infrastructure. It signals a competition not just for market share, but for control over ecosystem design, performance standards, and influence across a digitally transforming region.
Yet even as cross-border infrastructure expands, the path ahead is not without turbulence. The United States’ shifting approach to semiconductor exports, combined with unpredictable tariff moves against China, is creating headwinds. Restrictions on high-end chips, export controls, and retaliatory trade policies threaten to destabilize global supply chains just as regions like SIJORI position themselves as emerging AI hubs. The challenge for Southeast Asia will be to remain agile: balancing neutrality with ambition, and leveraging its geographic and geopolitical advantages to build a resilient, future-proofed digital corridor.
SIJORI Week 2025 offers more than a platform for announcements. It is a moment for pause and perspective. A chance to recognize that while the challenges facing Singapore, Johor, and Batam may differ, their destinies are intertwined. If these three cities can move forward not in competition but in coordination, they have the potential to shape the next chapter of digital growth not only for Southeast Asia, but for Asia.
SIJORI Week 2025 Event Calendar:
6th July – SIJORI Golf Cup (Batam, Indonesia)
7th July – Batam Interconnect World Forum (Batam, Indonesia)
8th July – Johor Interconnect World Forum (Johor, Malaysia)
9th July – Open Compute Project SEA Tech Day (Singapore)
10th July – SIJORI Cloud & Datacenter Convention (Singapore)
10th July – Singapore Interconnect World Forum (Singapore)
12th July – SIJORI Football (Singapore)
More than 2,500 participated in SIJORI Week 2024. More information on SIJORI Week 2025 can be found at https://www.sijoriweek.com
