KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 2 — The government is expected to announce investments similar to Microsoft Corporation’s US$1 billion data centres investment in the near future, said Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz.

Microsoft has in April this year announced that it will invest US$1 billion in the country over the next five years as part of a new partnership with the government agencies and local companies.

"We believe, and I know for a fact that, more global players are finalising similar investments in Malaysia, which we will announce soon under the MyDIGITAL initiative,” he said.

Tengku Zafrul said this in a virtual interview with Singapore’s The Straits Times titled "Beyond the Pandemic: Malaysia’s Way Forward” today.

According to the Finance Minister, Malaysia is confident of attracting more global players in building data centres in the country moving forward.

On the cabotage issue of which Facebook and Google had reportedly announced that their new subsea cable would bypass Malaysia entirely, Tengku Zafrul said Malaysia’s current cabotage policy is sufficient in ensuring its sovereignty.

"I believe there are geopolitical considerations... when it comes to undersea cable connectivity, I cannot comment as much, but Malaysia’s current cabotage policy is sufficient in ensuring our sovereignty,” he said. — Bernama