From left: Sime Darby Property chairman Datuk Rizal Rickman Ramli, Google Malaysia, Pakistan and Frontier Market country director Farhan Qureshi, Deputy Communications Minister Teo Nie Ching, Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook, Digital Minister Gobind Singh Deo, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Alphabet president and Google chief investment officer Ruth Porat, Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz, Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari, Google vice president of government affairs and public policy Wilson White and Malaysian Investment Development Authority CEO Datuk Sikh Shamsul Ibrahim Sikh Abdul Majid during the groundbreaking ceremony on Oct 1 at The St Regis Kuala Lumpur. 

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 2): Google held a groundbreaking ceremony on Tuesday at The St Regis Kuala Lumpur to commence the construction of its first data centre in Malaysia at Sime Darby Property Bhd's (KL:SIMEPROP) Elmina Business Park in the City of Elmina township, Selangor.

In a press statement on Wednesday, Sime Darby Property managing director Datuk Seri Azmir Merican said: “Sime Darby Property is proud to establish Google’s first hyperscale data centre in Malaysia at our Elmina Business Park and would like to thank Google for the trust placed in us. Our venture into this new economy asset class with a leading tech giant positions Elmina Business Park as a top destination for global tech firms. We are heartened by the support we have received from the local authorities, as well as state and federal governments for the development of not just Google’s data centre but the development of Elmina Business Park’s entire infrastructure and human capital ecosystem.”

Meanwhile, Google global director of data centre energy and location strategy Gary Demasi commented: “We are pleased to have broken ground on our first data centre and cloud region campus in Malaysia at Elmina Business Park, and we look forward to further potential collaboration with Sime Darby Property as part of our continued efforts to advance the country’s goals of boosting its digital competitiveness and establishing itself as a regional hub for AI (artificial intelligence) innovation.”

The hyperscale data centre will be built according to Google’s customised specifications and infrastructure requirements. It is targeted to be completed in early 2026 and will be operated by Google upon completion. Located in Elmina Business Park, the park is designed to support the digital economy with infrastructure such as large-scale water and energy solutions. It expects to attract data centres, large-scale manufacturers, and small and medium enterprises. About 35,000 job opportunities are expected to be created upon the park’s completion in 2035.

Moving forward, Sime Darby Property said in the statement that it expects to roll out more projects under this business model with high-calibre clients in technology-driven manufacturing, logistics businesses and data centre space as part of its initiative to grow the company’s SHIFT25 strategy of long-term recurring income contribution.