MNCs interested in Sedenak

Yasmin

NUSAJAYA: The country’s second data hub – Sedenak Iskandar Data Hub (SIDH) – is ready to attract digital-based companies worldwide to set up their operations there.

Multimedia Development Corp (MDeC) CEO Datuk Yasmin Mahmood (pic) said the corporation was currently holding talks with several multinational corporations (MNCs) to invest in SIDH.

She described the discussions with the MNCs as “fruitful and progressive” with many of them showing strong interest in setting up their operations in Sedenak, Iskandar Malaysia.

Asked whether one of the potential investors was US-based Microsoft Corp, Yasmin replied that they had requested that their names not be revealed. “I understand the media people are eager to know who are the investors coming to Sedenak but we are not at liberty to announce their names yet,” she said after attending the announcement on the Malaysia data centre industry performance 2014 and data hub at Iskandar Malaysia by Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek.

She said 283.27ha in Sedenak had been earmarked in Iskandar Malaysia as the second new data hub in the country after Cyberjaya in Selangor.

“We have chosen Sedenak because of its close proximity to Singapore which will be an added advantage in attracting investors especially global data centre companies,” added Yasmin.

She said the setting up of the SIDH, which would have a power supply capacity of 600MW, would also be one of the first steps in realising the Asean Data Corridor.

Yasmin said SIDH was set to meet the region’s rising demand for data centre space and services as it would have modern infrastructure supported by high capacity power, reliable connectivity and friendly cloud and data centre policies.

Word of Microsoft planning to invest between RM5bil and RM6bil in the new data hub in Iskandar Malaysia had been circulated in the Johor corporate world for months last year. But many have been tight-lipped, including Mentri Besar Datuk Mohamed Khaled Nordin, when asked whether the US-based company would invest in Sedenak.

At the opening of a factory in Pasir Gudang last November, trade executive councillor Datuk Tee Siew Kiong said Johor would receive a big investment from the US, with the investment in the region of RM5bil but declined to give more details.