Google to invest US$15 billion in Malaysia in 2027 and 2028

KUALA LUMPUR: Google will invest US$15 billion in Malaysia from 2027 to 2028 with the spending going towards data centre campuses, clean energy, bolstering water security and upskilling workers, the unit of Alphabet said on Wednesday (Nov 4). 

Google plans to build new campuses in the states of Selangor and Negeri Sembilan, in addition to its first campus at Elmina Business Park in Selangor, which is already operational.

"This investment aligns with Malaysia's development priorities, providing the foundational computing capacity to deliver the upside of innovation across the country while adding local power and water resources as our operations scale," Alphabet and Google's president and chief investment officer Ruth Porat said.

The construction phase for the campuses is expected to contribute an annual average of US$1.1 billion to Malaysia's GDP and support more than 37,000 local jobs per year, Google said.

The facilities, once operational, are projected to sustain more than 9,000 local jobs per year, with wages averaging 45 per cent above the national median.

Google said it also plans to add more than 1 gigawatt of clean energy capacity to Malaysia's national grid.

"Google will also pay for 100 per cent of the power its data centre campuses use and the direct infrastructure costs required to connect them to the grid, while complying with all applicable local regulations," it said.

On efficiency, Google said its Malaysian campuses will run at a Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) of 1.12 to 1.14.

Google also announced its plans for four new programmes aimed at upskilling 800,000 Malaysians over the next five years.