Alibaba Cloud to build fourth Malaysian data centre by 2026

KUALA LUMPUR: Alibaba Cloud, the cloud computing arm of China tech giant Alibaba Group, is set to open its fourth data centre in Malaysia by 2026, said deputy digital minister Wilson Ugak Kumbong.
He said Alibaba Cloud recently launched its third Malaysian facility, and the upcoming fourth centre highlighted the country’s appeal as a regional hub for digital infrastructure.
“This sends a powerful signal that Malaysia is now home to one of Alibaba Cloud’s largest data centre footprints in Southeast Asia,“ he said in his speech at Alibaba Cloud Al Day on Dec 3.
With the upcoming fourth data centre, Malaysia will be Alibaba Cloud’s largest data centre presence in Southeast Asia.
Besides Alibaba Cloud, he said several other international brands are expanding their business in Malaysia.
“Not only are we fostering ourselves as the regional digital hub, but we are also relatively disaster-free in the long run. This really is great for practical data centre infrastructure.”
He said Malaysia’s ample land and natural resources, along with its attention to environmental and community needs, have strengthened investor confidence.
“Between 2021 and June 2025, the government approved 143 data-centre projects with a total investment value of RM144.4 billion,“ he said.
Wilson Ugak also congratulated the Alibaba Cloud team for receiving an award at this year’s Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems (NeurIPS).
“This recognition acknowledges Alibaba Cloud’s research breakthrough that significantly improves the efficiency of large-language models.
“In addition to that, ladies and gentlemen, the recent roll-out of new smart devices powered by Alibaba’s Qwen AI is another exciting chapter of Alibaba’s growth model and work,“ he said.
At the event, the company announced new partnerships with Ryt Bank and the energy subsidiary of the national carmaker Proton New Energy Technology (PRO-NET).
He praised the multi-sector partnerships, saying Malaysia’s digital transformation depends on strong cooperation between industry and technology providers.
“Today’s announcements between Alibaba Cloud, Ryt Bank and PRO-NET show how cloud and AI technologies can accelerate national progress from advancing AI-powered digital banking to transforming the EV ecosystem.
“These initiatives support our commitment to driving innovation and reinforcing Malaysia’s position in the digital economy,“ he said.
Powered partly by Alibaba Cloud infrastructure, Ryt Bank is building an AI-enabled digital banking platform.
The bank launched its core banking system in just six months using Alibaba Cloud’s local data centres and secure cloud architecture to support compliance with Bank Negara Malaysia’s regulatory requirements.
Ryt Bank CEO Melvin Ooi said the partnership has enabled the bank’s fast and secure rollout.
“This collaboration provides the cloud foundation and AI capabilities we need to drive innovation, strengthen customer trust, and support Malaysia’s broader digital ambitions,“ he said.
Alibaba Cloud is also supporting PRO-NET in accelerating Malaysia’s EV growth.
Since PRO-NET’s inception, Alibaba Cloud has helped the company adopt a cloud-first, data-driven approach through an end-to-end integrated data pipeline.
This foundation supports PRO-NET’s development of Malaysia’s new-energy ecosystem and its push toward intelligent, sustainable mobility.
Building on this, PRO-NET is expanding its AI capabilities using Alibaba Cloud’s Model Studio to develop an internal chatbot, with plans to extend it to customer-facing applications and vehicle infotainment systems.
The collaboration aims to strengthen PRO-NET’s capabilities in predictive analytics, intelligent mobility and customer experience.
PRO-NET CEO Zhang Qiang said Alibaba Cloud has been crucial in enabling its digital transformation.
“As we move into the next phase with AI, this collaboration will empower us to unlock deeper insights, elevate customer experiences, and shape a smarter, more connected future of mobility for Malaysia,“ he said.
The partnership also explores broader AI applications through Alibaba Cloud’s Qwen models and Platform for AI, positioning PRO-NET to leverage advanced AI tools to improve operational efficiency and drive innovation in electric mobility.