Kuala lumpur: The government is set to establish a dedicated data centre to securely store national data, ensuring the protection of information sovereignty, as announced by Deputy Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Liew Chin Tong. The data centre will adhere to the standards outlined in the Digital Ecosystem Acceleration Scheme (DESAC) managed by the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI) and the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA).
According to BERNAMA News Agency, Liew emphasized that there have been no incidents involving sovereignty or unauthorized release of government information from any data centre to date. However, he stressed the necessity of a specialized facility to uphold the security and sovereignty of national information moving forward. This statement was made during a question-and-answer session in the Dewan Rakyat, addressing a supplementary question from Oscar Ling Chai Yew (PH-Sibu) regarding the reliability of data centres and measures to prevent data leaks.
Further, Liew revealed plans to establish a single operating licence issuing authority to ensure the sector’s structured development, complying with energy and water standards. The data centre task force, led jointly by MITI and the Digital Ministry, includes the Energy Commission, the National Water Services Commission, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation, and other relevant bodies. This task force is tasked with formulating policies and strategies for sustainable sector development.
Liew also disclosed the approval of 143 data centre investment projects from 2021 to June 30, 2025. Among these, 25 projects received Malaysia Digital (MD) status with incentives under DESAC, involving RM144.4 billion in investments and anticipated to create 1,429 new jobs. Addressing Ling’s question on projected electricity and water usage, Liew cited Energy Commission data, indicating that data centres’ electricity consumption nationwide stood at 603MW (47 percent) against a maximum demand of 1,276MW (85 percent) as of June 2025.