Chinese social media giant ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, plans to spend around MYR10 billion ($2.13 billion) on investments aimed toward making Malaysia a synthetic intelligence hub, in addition to a further investment of MYR1.5 billion to expand its local data center .
Malaysian Trade Minister Tengku Zafrul announced the investment agreement after a gathering with TikTok Vice President Helena Lersch (June 7) to debate TikTok’s development in Malaysia.
This investment goals to support the event of artificial intelligence (AI) within the country and position Malaysia as a number one AI hub in Southeast Asia. Additionally, Zafrul explained that ByteDance also intends to expand its data center in Johor, Malaysia by investing a further MYR 1.5 billion. The move is aimed toward anticipating future needs and strengthening ByteDance’s commitment to Malaysia.
Zafrul is optimistic that this significant investment could have a big positive impact on Malaysia. It goals to grow Malaysia’s digital economy to 22.6 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2025.
ByteDance’s move is a component of a world trend by which major technology corporations are racing to take a position in artificial intelligence and establish Southeast Asian countries as development hubs.
The move marks Malaysia’s increasingly strategic position on the technology investment map within the Asia-Pacific region. In the face of geopolitical tensions within the region, Malaysia is becoming a gorgeous place for giant corporations to expand their operations.
The most up-to-date examples include Google and Microsoft, each of which has pledged to take a position $2 billion in Malaysia. These investments are expected to have a big positive impact on Malaysia’s digital economy.
