Malaysia aims to join the world’s top 20 AI economies by 2030. With steady progress and foreign investment, it appears that goal may become a reality.
This growing momentum in Southeast Asia’s artificial intelligence sector gained fresh support this week when Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE: VRT) (FRA: 49V) opened its new manufacturing facility in the Malaysian state of Johor. Many stakeholders and AI enthusiasts attended the grand opening ceremony on Jul. 1.
Vertiv is a global company that makes the power and cooling equipment large computer centres rely on to run smoothly. These centres house the machines driving modern digital services. The facility in Senai, Johor, is Vertiv’s first in Southeast Asia. It produces cooling systems, power modules and ready-to-assemble setups that allow faster installation. The roughly 236,000-square-foot site handles manufacturing, assembly and testing designed for the region’s climate.
“The facility represents another important milestone in the development of Malaysia’s data centre ecosystem,” commented Vivian Wong, an AI data centre researcher from Singapore who toured the plant at the launch.
“The highlight was walking through the Cooling Distribution Unit assembly line from raw components to the finished product,” Wong said.
Vertiv chose Johor for its rapid industrial growth, transport connections near the border with Singapore and ability to serve customers across Southeast Asia, North Asia, Australia and New Zealand. The plant will create hundreds of skilled jobs by 2027. AI-related job postings had already risen sharply nationwide before this new complex opened.
The news comes as Malaysia continues to push forward with its National AI Roadmap, set out in 2021, to reach its ambitious targets. This plan emphasises talent development, industry collaboration and infrastructure growth, backed by new initiatives such as the MyMahir National AI Council launched in May.
Vertiv’s leading competitors include Schneider Electric SE (OTCMKTS: SBGSF) (EPA: SU), which supplies power and cooling systems for AI data centres; and Eaton Corporation PLC (NYSE: ETN) (FRA: 3EC), a strong player in advanced power management solutions for high-density computing.
Artificial intelligence is expected to contribute about US$115 billion to Malaysia’s productive capacity by the end of the decade, according to the country’s Ministry of Digital. Approximately 18 per cent of formal jobs in the country will likely be transformed by it in the years to come.
Read more: China’s AgiBot formally opens 1st overseas robotics centre in Malaysia
Follow Rowan Dunne on LinkedIn
rowan@mugglehead.com
