Microsoft has recently revealed its decision to launch a data center region in Malaysia. The first region in the country will be in Greater Kuala Lumpur. It will have connectivity to the entire Microsoft Cloud along with Azure Availability Zones.
The launch is part of the company's Bersama Malaysia and including the Malaysia plan. The company has hailed this initiative as a major step toward empowering Malaysia's progressive digital economy and accelerating the country's digital transformation.
According to YAB Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Prime Minister of Malaysia, "As we cement the Microsoft partnership today, I hope this is just the first green shoots of a broader meadow of investments in Malaysia, for Microsoft, and other data players."
"This significant investment from Microsoft further fortifies Malaysia's position as a potential regional data hub and we stand ever ready to welcome more such partners as we work with our stakeholders to continually improve Malaysia's value proposition in this big data space."
The tech giant has also committed to training a further 1 million Malaysians by the end of 2023 to "help create economic opportunities for people and businesses in the digital era."
Centered on cloud and AI, the company will be working with the Social Security Organization, Human Resources Development Fund, MAMPU, TalentCorp Malaysia, Junior Achievement Malaysia, Biji-Biji Enterprise, Grab Malaysia, and local universities.
"This commitment is a continuation of Microsoft's global skills initiative since July 2020, which has reached more than 110,000 Malaysians to date," the company said.
The company also stated that it will join forces with the government, startups, and businesses to help the country achieve its digital transformation goals. It will also promote the sustainability goals of Microsoft.
Additionally, Microsoft will work with Silverlake Group, Web Bytes, and Censof Holdings to boost digital transformation in major industries around the country, such as retail, food and beverage, financial services, and even the public sector, the company reported.
Microsoft also established the MyDigital Alliance Leadership Council in collaboration with the Social & Economic Research Initiative to work on cloud-first and digital-native policy guidelines.
The Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit (MAMPU) has also selected Microsoft to offer cloud services to Malaysian government agencies until 2023.
Malaysia's nation-building and digital goals are supported by local firms such as Celcom Axiata Berhad and Petronas. They have also pledged to use the Microsoft Cloud from the new data center region when it becomes accessible.
