Google has broken ground on its first data center in Malaysia.

The company this week held a ceremonial groundbreaking for its first data center and cloud region in Malaysia.

Google Malaysia
– Google

First announced in 2022, the $2 billion campus is located at the Elmina Business Park outside Kuala Lumpur.

Ruth Porat, president and chief investment officer of Alphabet and Google, said: "Today, Google reaffirms its support for advancing Malaysia’s digital future with the ground breaking of our data center and cloud region in Selangor. Google’s investments in infrastructure, digital skilling, and sustainability represent progress on our joint efforts with the Government of Malaysia to create high-value jobs and bring the benefits of AI to local communities and companies.”

Google’s facility in Malaysia will use water-cooling technology, which it said would use less energy than air-cooled data centers. As part of its water stewardship efforts, the company will collaborate with the Global Environment Centre (GEC) and the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) to restore Taman Aman Lake in Selangor.

Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Prime Minister of Malaysia, and YB Senator Tengku Datuk Seri Utama Zafrul Aziz, Minister of Investment, Trade, and Industry, were in attendance at the ceremony.

Minister Aziz said: "We laud Google's swiftness in establishing its data center and cloud region in Malaysia. These state-of-the-art facilities will not only empower our manufacturing and service-based industries—particularly the small and medium businesses (SMBs)—to leverage advanced technologies like AI and cloud computing, but also enhance our industries’ capacity to move up the global value chain.

Earlier this week, Google Cloud also announced its partnership with Dagang NeXchange Berhad (DNeX) to offer cloud solutions in Malaysia.

Amazon launched a Malaysian cloud region in August. Microsoft announced plans for a Malaysian Azure region in Kuala Lumpur in April 2021. This is still yet to open.