Microsoft announces plans to establish its first datacenter region in Malaysia as part of “Bersama Malaysia” initiative to support inclusive economic growth

“Bersama Malaysia” includes a commitment to skill an additional 1 million Malaysians by end of 2023, collaboration across public and private sectors and formation of a MYDigital Alliance Leadership Council

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA – Media
OutReach – 19 April 2021 – Microsoft
Corp. today announced its “Bersama Malaysia” (Together with Malaysia)
initiative, which marks a significant commitment to empowering Malaysia’s
inclusive digital economy and advancing the nation’s digital transformation across
the private and public sectors. As part of the plan, Microsoft will establish
its first datacenter region in the country to deliver trusted cloud services
locally, with world-class data security, privacy, and the ability to store data
in-country. Microsoft also announced plans to skill an additional 1 million
Malaysians by end of 2023 to help create economic opportunities for people and
businesses in the digital era. Finally, Microsoft will help form the MYDigital Alliance
Leadership Council to collaborate
on cloud-first and digital-native policy recommendations.

 

Today’s announcement represents a significant
milestone in Microsoft’s 28-year history in the country and supports the
Government of Malaysia’s MyDIGITAL goals to transform the country into a
regional leader in the digital economy. According to IDC’s research^[1], Microsoft’s investment in
Malaysia will help generate up to USD 4.6 billion^[2] in new revenues for the
country’s ecosystem of local partners and cloud-consuming customers over the
next four years. Additionally, the research estimates Microsoft, its partners,
and cloud-using customers will together contribute more than 19,000 new direct
and indirect jobs.

 

YAB Tan Sri
Muhyiddin Yassin, Prime Minister of Malaysia said, “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.”

 

“Today’s announcement represents a major milestone for
Microsoft in the 28 years we have been operating in Malaysia. We share the
Government’s commitment that digital transformation must be inclusive and responsible.
As such, we pledge to empower 1 million Malaysians with digital skills, helping
them to take advantage of the opportunities this new investment will bring.
Building digital infrastructure is fundamental to advancing a nation’s digital
economy. The upcoming datacenter region will be a game-changer for Malaysia,
enabling the government and businesses to reimagine and transform their
operations, to the benefit of all citizens,” said Jean-Philippe Courtois,
Executive Vice President and President, Microsoft Global Sales, Marketing and
Operations.

 

“We are proud to cement our partnership with the
nation to accelerate its digital economy. Public-private partnerships are key
enablers to propel Malaysia’s digital economy forward. Microsoft’s Bersama
Malaysia initiative reflects our joint commitment in support of the nation’s
MyDIGITAL aspirations, as we empower every person and every organization in
Malaysia to achieve more. With over 200 employees and 2,000 partners in the
country, we will continue to support a digitally-enabled government, empower
businesses to build resilience digitally, and bridge the digital opportunities
for Malaysians. Together, we stand with Malaysia,” said K Raman, Managing
Director of Microsoft Malaysia.  

 

Digital
infrastructure and partnerships to
advance Malaysia’s digital economy

 

Microsoft
will establish its first datacenter region in the Greater Kuala Lumpur area and
deliver access to the full Microsoft Cloud, which includes:

• Microsoft Azure, enabling anyone to invent with
  purpose using cloud services and capabilities that span computing, networking,
  databases, analytics, AI and Internet of Things;
• Microsoft 365, to connect, collaborate, work
  remotely and learn online with innovative productivity tools;
• Dynamics 365 and Power Platform, to rapidly build and manage
  critical enterprise business solutions at scale with intelligent business
  applications.

 

The new datacenter region will also deliver Azure
Availability Zones, providing additional resilience options for highly
available applications, and  support
Microsoft’s sustainability
goals. Microsoft has a global commitment to shift to 100
percent supply of renewable energy by 2025. This means Microsoft will have
power purchase agreements for green energy contracted for 100 percent of carbon-emitting
electricity consumed by all its datacenters, buildings, and campuses, including
the planned Malaysia datacenter region.

 

Microsoft will work with the government, startups, and
enterprises to support the country’s digital transformation goals. Specifically,
Microsoft in partnership with the Social
& Economic Research Initiative (SERI) has established the MYDigital Alliance Leadership Council to collaborate on
cloud-first and digital-native policy recommendations. The Alliance’s first
meeting discussed digitalization in the education sector to nurture a globally
competitive Malaysian digital workforce. Additionally, Malaysia’s leading companies, Petroliam Nasional
Berhad (PETRONAS) and Celcom
Axiata Berhad have committed to helping advance Malaysia’s nation
building and digital ambitions, as well as using the Microsoft Cloud from the
new datacenter region when available.

 

“The partnership with Microsoft
underlines PETRONAS’ commitment to nurturing a sustainable pipeline of a
future-ready workforce equipped to support Malaysia’s digital economy. As a
progressive energy and solutions partner enriching lives for a sustainable
future, continuous human capital development will be integral to our ability to
operate and compete. We look forward to accelerating efforts in upskilling
local talents, with a view to creating an inclusive digital future for the
benefit of both the people and the nation,” said Tengku Muhammad Taufik,
President and Group Chief Executive Officer, PETRONAS.

 

“Telecommunications
and technology sectors are key lifelines to the nation’s digital economy. A
world-class cloud service will become the epitome that shapes the future path
in our pursuit towards becoming a digital economy powerhouse in the region. We
highly applaud Microsoft’s plans to establish its first datacenter region in
Malaysia, providing access to secure, scalable, highly available, resilient,
and sustainable cloud services for the government, and across multiple industry
verticals. As the anchor telco tenant, we look forward to bringing the benefit
of this datacenter to our customers and partners. In partnership with Microsoft,
we will continue to serve our customers by offering secure and reliable cloud
services, leading towards the development of a striving digital ecosystem, and
achieving the nation’s digital aspirations in a way that is sustainable,” said
Idham Nawawi, Chief Executive Officer of Celcom Axiata Berhad.

 

Microsoft,
together with its local partner Enfrasys Solutions, has been appointed by the
Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit to provide
cloud services to the Malaysian public sector agencies through 2023. Microsoft
will also partner with Censof Holdings, Silverlake Group, and Web Bytes to
accelerate digital transformation in the nation’s key industries, including
financial services, retail, food, and beverage, as well as the public sector.

 

Empowering
Malaysians with inclusive opportunities

 

As part of the Bersama Malaysia initiative, Microsoft
is committed to equipping individuals with equal opportunities to thrive in a cloud
and AI-enabled digital economy. To achieve this, Microsoft will skill an
additional 1 million Malaysians by December 2023. This includes work with the Human
Resources Development Fund, Social Security Organization, Junior Achievement
Malaysia, TalentCorp Malaysia, MAMPU, Grab Malaysia, Biji-Biji Enterprise and local
universities to reach people of all socio-economic backgrounds, including young
adults and people living with disabilities. This commitment is a continuation
of Microsoft’s global skills initiative since July 2020, which has reached more
than 110,000 Malaysians to date.