Digital Minister Gobind Singh Deo.
KUALA LUMPUR: Digital Minister Gobind Singh Deo has defended Malaysia’s data centre rush, pointing out that the multi-billion-ringgit investments have their merits despite being resource intensive.
Critics have questioned whether these merits to the economy were widespread enough since they did not spin off longer term jobs unlike the other types of foreign direct investments (FDIs).
“When there are investments into data centres here, they create confidence around their ecosystems.
“These ecosystems will also provide jobs and different opportunities. Looking ahead, we can capitalise on these data centres especially when we are moving towards an era where technology is moving towards generative artificial intelligence (AI),” Gobind said at the sidelines of the launch of Macrokiosk’s headquarters and operations centre.
Macrokiosk, a tech-based multinational company founded by three Malaysian brothers, opened its new office in the KLCC area as it turns 24 years this month.
“We cannot look at data centres in an isolated way but rather view them as part of a broader ecosystem that we would build around upon (eventually) – so in this context there will be many (other) jobs that would become available and provide a lot of other spin off benefits to build the broader economy,” he added.
Gobind noted Malaysia is now recognised as the premier data centre hub in the Asian region due to the growing investments into AI globally.
“The explosion has initiated a global reach for computing and has accelerated global demand for land, water and energy.
“With its abundant resources, Malaysia must and can now capitalise on this trend on our abundance of resources and safe geographical location for investors that are seeking diversification,” he said in his speech earlier.
“Since we need to prepare the country for the future, there are investments we definitely have to look at.
“While there are concerns of it being (resource intensive), the government has got sufficient policies to ensure these are taken care of,” Gobind added.
He said the ministry’s main focus in developing the digital economy further would be in the areas of cybersecurity, infrastructure and talent.
“This will be the catalyst for the digital realm in the present and future,” he noted.
On a related matter, Gobind said there will be some amendments to the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) which will be tabled in the current parliament session.
“We are also proposing to table a Data Sharing Bill – it is still being drafted and hope it will be done by the end of this year.
“This is important to ensure we have a mechanism to share data among government agencies so we can make better use of it.
“We need to ensure the regulations are in place before this happens. The PDPA will ensure data security in this aspect,” he said.
