KUALA LUMPUR, May 30 — Technology giant Google’s commitment to invest US$2 billion (RM9.4 billion) in Malaysia is set to create a positive economic ripple effect across various sectors and industries in the country.

Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) economist Associate Prof. Dr Nuradli Ridzwan Shah Mohd Dali said that the development of Google’s first data centre in Malaysia and the Google Cloud region will open up opportunities for other sectors to benefit from the initiative, particularly the technology sector.

"At the same time, our energy and telecommunications sectors will see an economic spillover effect as the data centre would need a large amount of energy supply.

"The construction and real estate sectors will also benefit from the development of infrastructure and the surrounding area in the future,” he said during BernamaTV’s Malaysia Petang Ini show today.

After having been established in the country for over 13 years, Google, a company under the Alphabet Inc group, today announced its largest investment in Malaysia to date.

Google said its investment is estimated to support more than US$3.2 billion (RM15.04 billion) in positive economic impact and 26,500 jobs by 2030.

This investment is expected to attract other global giants to invest in Malaysia, as previous investments by Google have sparked interest from other major companies, said Nuradli Ridzwan Shah.

Additionally, Google’s latest investment in Malaysia aligns with the Madani Government’s aspirations for transformation towards a digital economy.

"This transformation requires us to be prepared from all aspects, including digitalising the public and social sectors, as well as the adoption of artificial intelligence,” he added. — Bernama