Govt Plans To Establish Data Centre To Store National Data - Liew

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 5 (Bernama) -- The government plans to establish a dedicated data centre to store all national data to protect information sovereignty, said Deputy Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Liew Chin Tong.

He said the data centre will comply with existing standards under the Digital Ecosystem Acceleration Scheme (DESAC) under the Investment, Trade and Industry Ministry (MITI) and the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA).

“There have been no issues about sovereignty or government information being released by any data centre so far. Moving forward, we will have a dedicated facility or data centre for government data to ensure the security and sovereignty of national information,” he said at a question-and-answer session in the Dewan Rakyat today.

He was responding to a supplementary question from Oscar Ling Chai Yew (PH-Sibu) on the reliability of data centres, national data sovereignty and the measures taken to prevent data leaks.

Elaborating further, Liew said the government also plans to establish a single operating licence issuing authority as a measure to ensure the sector’s development is well-structured and complies with energy and water standards.

“We will ensure that we have a single licensing authority,” he added.

MITI and the Digital Ministry co-chair the data centre task force, which comprises the Energy Commission, the National Water Services Commission, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation, and other relevant agencies.

The task force is responsible for formulating policies and strategies to develop the sector sustainably.

Liew also said the government has approved 143 data centre investment projects from 2021 to June 30, 2025.

Of that total, 25 projects were approved with Malaysia Digital (MD) status with incentives under DESAC, involving RM144.4 billion in investments, and are expected to create 1,429 new jobs.

On Ling’s original question on projected electricity and water usage, he said Energy Commission data showed that data centres' electricity consumption nationwide was 603MW (47 per cent) against the maximum demand of 1,276MW (85 per cent) as of June 2025.

-- BERNAMA