Equinix scales Malaysian footprint with expansion of its KL1 data center

• Interconnected with S’pore and Johor data centers to spur economic development
• Ride on ASEANs emergence as one of the world’s fastest-growing regions for FDI

Equinix, Inc, announced yesterday the completion of the second phase of its KL1 International Business Exchange™ (IBX®) data center in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The company said that this expansion, combined with its presence in Singapore and Johor as well as forthcoming entry into Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand, will allow businesses to interconnect and exchange data across the ASEAN region.

Equinix has interconnected KL1 and JH1 with its data center campus in Singapore via Equinix Fabric®, creating a cross-border digital ecosystem of more than 1,000 companies across cloud and network services, IT, financial services companies and enterprises within the region.

The expansion to KL1, which opened in March 2024, adds 450 cabinets to the facility and will meet the accelerating demand for digital infrastructure across Malaysia. Since launching its operations in 2024, Equinix said it has already secured global and local customers across diverse sectors including cloud and IT services, content and digital media, enterprises, and network providers.

While Equinix has said its Johor facility, JH1 cost an initial US$40 million (RM170 million), it has not shared the investment amount for either the first phase of KL1 nor the current second phase.

“Completing KL1’s second phase within first year of our operation in Malaysia signals our deep commitment to helping the nation become a strategic location in the region’s digital economy,” said Cheam Tat Inn, Managing Director of Malaysia, Equinix.

He said the company has seen encouraging momentum over the past year, with both Kuala Lumpur and Johor facilities gaining traction among local and international customers.

Equinix’s expansion in Malaysia represents a long-term investment in the nation’s digital growth. With growing interest across both Kuala Lumpur and Johor, the company remains focused on empowering businesses with high-performance, scalable, and sustainable infrastructure that is globally connected and cloud enabled.

As businesses around the globe look to ASEAN for market opportunities, the region’s growth depends on a robust and interconnected digital infrastructure to meet increasing connectivity demands. With its unparalleled market access, strategic location, and expanding manufacturing capabilities that enhance supply chains, ASEAN has emerged as one of the world’s fastest-growing regions for foreign direct investment (FDI).

According to asean.org in 2023, FDI reached a record US$226 billion (RM964.2 billion), with projections suggesting that it could eventually reach approximately US$300 billion annually by 2030. Driven by key trade corridors connecting East and West, ASEAN exports are forecast to grow by 6.7% annually through 2030, outpacing the global average of 5%.

[RM1 = US$0.234]

With such regional growth, Equinix is confident that its impending entry into Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand will enable customers to deploy multi-site, latency-sensitive workloads across the ASEAN region.