AirTrunk, the Asia-Pacific and Middle East hyperscale data centre platform owned by Blackstone, has announced a MYR12 billion (USD3 billion) investment to develop two new campuses in Iskandar Puteri, Johor, bringing its total committed capital in Malaysia to MYR27 billion (USD6.8 billion) across four sites. The announcement coincides with independent data confirming Malaysia’s position as the second-largest developing-economy destination for digital foreign direct investment globally, trailing only India.
Key Facts At A Glance
- AirTrunk’s new campuses JHB3 and JHB4: combined capacity exceeding 280MW of IT load, located in Iskandar Puteri, Johor
- AirTrunk’s total committed investment in Malaysia on completion: MYR27 billion (USD6.8 billion) across four campuses, exceeding 700MW of combined IT load
- Existing campuses JHB1 and JHB2: combined capacity of more than 420MW, described as almost 100 percent contracted
- JHB3 and JHB4 to create more than 3,000 construction jobs; local supplier engagement expected to reach MYR5 billion (USD1.3 billion) across the full four-campus platform
- Malaysia’s share of all digital greenfield investment projects among developing economies, 2020 to 2024: 14 percent, second only to India at 22 percent, per the UNCTAD World Investment Report 2025
- Johor data centre market as of Q1 2026: 850MW completed, 1,800MW under construction, 2,700MW in the pipeline
- Malaysia’s total approved digital investments in 2024: RM163.6 billion, with data centres and cloud accounting for 76.8 percent
AirTrunk’s Johor Expansion
AirTrunk announced the JHB3 and JHB4 campuses in the final week of April 2026. Both facilities will be located in Iskandar Puteri, Johor, adjacent to the company’s existing JHB1 and JHB2 campuses, forming a concentrated hyperscale cluster within a single geographic corridor. The new sites are purpose-built for high-density cloud and AI workloads, with cooling systems using 100 percent recycled water and power usage effectiveness targets below conventional data centre benchmarks. The announcement follows AirTrunk’s entry into India earlier in the same week, where the company disclosed plans to invest more than USD5 billion.
Malaysia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy Transition and Water Transformation, YAB Datuk Amar Haji Fadillah bin Haji Yusof, acknowledged the investment as consistent with the government’s objectives in digital infrastructure and AI positioning. AirTrunk Founder and CEO Robin Khuda attributed the company’s continued commitment to its relationship with the Malaysian government and the performance of existing campuses, which are tracking ahead of investment plans. The company has already awarded MYR423 million (USD107 million) in local supplier contracts.
Johor’s Data Centre Market
Johor’s rise as Southeast Asia’s fastest-growing data centre market has been driven by a combination of land availability, power infrastructure, proximity to Singapore, and a policy environment that directs approvals toward AI-capable, high-tech investment. JLL Malaysia data released in Q1 2026 showed Johor Bahru with 850MW of completed capacity, 1,800MW under construction, and 2,700MW in the pipeline, a growth trajectory that JLL described as 5,262 percent over five years, the highest compound annual growth rate in the Asia-Pacific region. The Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone, formally established in January 2025, has been an additional structural driver, offering qualifying digital and AI companies a special corporate tax rate of 5 percent for up to 15 years.
The concentration of investment in Johor has been accompanied by a managed approvals process. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim introduced stricter approval criteria for new data centre developments earlier in 2026, prioritizing AI-related and high-value-add projects to protect national power and water resources. AirTrunk’s JHB3 and JHB4 campuses were developed under this framework. Industrial land prices in Johor have responded to demand, with average prices rising to RM86 per square foot in 2025, an 8.4 percent increase year-on-year.
Malaysia’s Digital FDI Position
The AirTrunk announcement is consistent with a broader pattern of capital concentration in Malaysia’s digital economy. A joint whitepaper by Knight Frank Malaysia and the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), published in February 2026, confirmed that Malaysia attracted 14 percent of all digital greenfield investment projects among developing economies between 2020 and 2024, recording 74 project announcements against India’s 22 percent share. The data is drawn from the UNCTAD World Investment Report 2025. By comparison, Singapore captured 7 percent, Indonesia 7 percent, Vietnam 6 percent, and Thailand 3 percent. Global digital greenfield investment nearly tripled from USD131 billion in 2020 to USD360 billion in 2024, meaning Malaysia’s 14 percent share represents a substantially larger absolute capital base than its percentage ranking alone suggests.
In 2024, MDEC recorded total approved digital investments of RM163.6 billion, with data centres and cloud infrastructure accounting for 76.8 percent, a sharp rise from 55.5 percent in 2023. The top five source economies for foreign digital investment in 2024 were Singapore at RM57 billion, the United States at RM23 billion, China at RM12 billion, Australia at RM2.6 billion, and India at RM2 billion. Johor accounted for RM40.3 billion of approved digital investments, virtually all of it in data centers and cloud infrastructure.
A Supply Constraint Emerging
Despite the scale of inbound capital, the Knight Frank/MDEC whitepaper identified a supply gap in the certified, tech-ready commercial office market that could constrain Malaysia’s ability to absorb the full operational footprint of incoming digital multinationals. Only 13 percent of companies holding Malaysia Digital status currently operate from MD-certified premises, while just 35 percent of existing purpose-built office stock in Malaysia holds MD certification. Foreign digital companies strongly favor purpose-built offices, with 55 percent of foreign Malaysia Digital firms operating from such premises. The whitepaper frames this as a supply problem rather than a demand problem. MDEC introduced the Malaysia Digital Location Recognition framework effective January 1, 2026, with a new MD Nexus tier representing the highest standard of building-level recognition for digital occupiers.