(Bloomberg) — The Damac Group, supported by billionaire real estate mogul Hussain Sajwani, is gearing up to invest around $3 billion in establishing data centers throughout Southeast Asia. This move comes as the region increasingly becomes a hotspot for AI and cloud services.
According to Danish Nayar, Senior Vice President of Investments and Acquisitions, Edgnex Data Centers—a branch of the Dubai-based powerhouse—intends to channel these funds into Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand over the next three to five years. He mentioned that by March, the first of three planned facilities in Bangkok will be up and running, utilizing Nvidia Corp.’s cutting-edge chips.
Though Damac is primarily known for its real estate ventures in Dubai, the company’s portfolio is expanding into tech and fashion. The aggressive push into Southeast Asia is part of their ambitious plan to invest between $5 billion and $7 billion globally to bolster Edgnex’s presence, Nayar shared with Bloomberg News.
Their objective is to construct digital infrastructure capable of accommodating the high-performance servers needed for data storage and AI services. Established in 2021, Edgnex is already managing data centers in Riyadh and Dammam, he added.
Furthermore, Edgnex has secured land for building additional data centers in Malaysia and Indonesia, with many expected to deploy the latest Nvidia Blackwell chips. Plans are also in the works for similar developments in Vietnam and the Philippines, with announcements anticipated in 2025.
“We’re on track to reach over 550 megawatts of projected capacity for Southeast Asia. This could very well become a $5 billion market for us,” Nayar remarked, emphasizing the company’s ongoing growth.
Thailand, known for its manufacturing prowess in automobiles and electronics, is striving to catch up with neighboring Malaysia and Singapore in high-tech industries. Recent substantial investment promises from giants like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft highlight this trend.
Edgnex is partnering with Siam AI, a security startup and official Nvidia cloud affiliate, to form a joint venture. Some of the capacity at the new Bangkok data center will be dedicated to this venture, Nayar noted. Together, they will also procure Nvidia chips essential for their operations.
Nvidia’s CEO, Jensen Huang, is currently visiting Thailand—a stop in his broader Asian tour that has included India and Japan. During a meeting with Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra on Tuesday, Huang extended an offer to help advance AI education in Thailand.
“We’re here to help Thailand build its own AI capabilities,” Huang declared at a Bangkok event on Wednesday. Nvidia is keen to “invest in the Thai ecosystem,” providing tools, infrastructure, and expertise, he stated.
Macquarie Equity Research suggests that Thailand is poised to be “the next frontier” in the global data center expansion, thanks to its stable power supply and robust grid. Nonetheless, the shortage of skilled labor poses a significant hurdle, analyst Kaushal Ladha pointed out in a recent report.
Siam AI has reached agreements with divisions of major Thai corporations, Charoen Pokphand Group and Gulf Energy, to enhance AI infrastructure and solutions within their data centers.
–Contributions by Adveith Nair.
(Updated with Huang’s comments in the 10th paragraph.)
