Amazon Web Services (AWS), an Amazon.com, Inc. company, has launched AWS Asia Pacific (Malaysia) Region. Developers, startups, entrepreneurs, enterprises, government, education, and nonprofit organizations will have more options to run their applications and serve end users through AWS data centers in Malaysia.
As part of its long-term commitment, AWS plans to invest approximately US$6.2 billion (approximately MYR29.2 billion) in Malaysia by 2038.
It is estimated that the construction and operation of the new AWS Region will contribute approximately US$12.1 billion (MYR57.3 billion) to Malaysia’s gross domestic product (GDP) and create an average of more than 3,500 full-time jobs per year in external companies by 2038. These jobs, which will be created in industries such as construction, building maintenance, engineering or telecommunications, will be part of the AWS supply chain in Malaysia.
“The launch of the new AWS infrastructure region in Malaysia will provide Malaysian organizations and businesses of all sizes with access to modern emerging technologies and strengthen our country’s digital innovation capacity,” said Tengku Zafrul, Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI). “This milestone is an important step in achieving Malaysia’s New Industrial Master Plan 2030 , which aims to build a high-skilled, innovative, prosperous, inclusive and sustainable economy. We recognize the transformative power of digitization, cloud computing and artificial intelligence as key drivers of Malaysia’s aspirations to become a manufacturing and service hub in Asia. The AWS infrastructure is the largest investment by an international technology company in Malaysia to date and will help ensure Malaysia’s global competitiveness.”
“The new AWS Malaysia Region enables organizations in the Asia Pacific region to harness the full potential of the world’s most comprehensive and trusted cloud and help customers deliver cutting-edge applications using a broad range of AWS technologies, including AI and ML,” said Prasad Kalyanaraman, Vice President of Infrastructure Services at AWS. “Malaysia’s emerging digital economy requires access to secure, stable, and sustainable cloud infrastructure. With today’s launch, AWS is driving Malaysia’s digital transformation and will help accelerate the country’s role as a regional hub for AI.”
With the launch of the AWS Asia Pacific (Malaysia) Region, AWS operates more than 108 Availability Zones across 34 geographic regions, with plans to launch 18 new Availability Zones and six new AWS Regions in Mexico, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, and Thailand, as well as the AWS European Sovereign Cloud. AWS Regions include Availability Zones that deploy infrastructure in different geographic locations. The AWS Asia Pacific (Malaysia) Region consists of three Availability Zones that are far enough apart to ensure customer business continuity, but close enough to ensure low latency for high-availability applications that leverage multiple Availability Zones. Each Availability Zone has independent power, cooling, and physical security, and is connected by redundant, ultra-low latency networks. AWS customers for whom high availability is critical can design their applications to run in multiple Availability Zones, achieving maximum fault tolerance.
With analytics, compute, databases, IoT, generative AI, ML, mobile services, storage, and other cloud technologies, AWS offers the broadest and most detailed portfolio of services. AWS customers, ranging from startups and enterprises to public sector entities and nonprofits, are empowered to use the world’s leading cloud provider’s advanced technologies to innovate, meet data residency requirements, benefit from lower latency, and meet demand for cloud services in Malaysia and across the Asia Pacific region.
Among the millions of active customers using AWS in more than 190 countries around the globe, many Malaysian organizations are choosing AWS to stay innovative, increase cost efficiencies, and reduce time to market. Malaysian AWS customers include Astro Malaysia Holdings Berhad, Axiata Group, Bank Islam Malaysia, Bursa Malaysia, CelcomDigi, Department of Broadcasting Malaysia (RTM), GX Bank Berhad (GXBank), Johor Corporation, PayNet, and Petroliam Nasional Berhad (PETRONAS). Public sector customers in Malaysia are using AWS to reduce their costs and provide better services to local citizens. These customers include Asia Pacific University (APU) of Technology & Innovation, Beeducation Adventures Sdn. Bhd. (BeED), Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM), Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia (MOHE), Pos Malaysia, and Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB). Malaysian start-ups and mid-sized companies such as Aerodyne, Carsome, QRRA and Tapway are using AWS as the foundation of their business to achieve dynamic growth in the Asia-Pacific region and worldwide.
Bursa Malaysia, the national stock exchange in Malaysia, recently deployed the innovative Centralized Sustainability Intelligence (CSI) platform on AWS to facilitate the country’s transition to a lower-carbon economy. “Bursa Malaysia welcomes the launch of AWS cloud infrastructure in Malaysia as a significant step for the country’s digital economy that will foster innovation that drives capital market growth,” said Datuk Muhamad Umar Swift, CEO of Bursa Malaysia. “Our collaboration with AWS to launch a CSI platform provides important impetus to Malaysian companies and their suppliers to standardize ESG reporting and decarbonize their supply chain. Cloud computing will continue to improve sustainability practices in Malaysian companies and have a positive impact on the entire ecosystem.”
CelcomDigi, a leading telecommunications provider in Malaysia, is using Amazon Bedrock to leverage numerous basic and customized large language models for high performance requirements, creating an enterprise-wide AI sandbox for secure and rapid innovation cycles in consumer and corporate banking. “The new AWS region in Malaysia opens up exciting new opportunities for CelcomDigi and helps us accelerate our transformation into a leading telco-tech company,” said Datuk Idham Nawawi, CEO of CelcomDigi. “By building on AWS infrastructure and AI services for our business systems and consumer applications, we aim to optimize operational efficiency and provide a better experience for our customers. We look forward to strengthening our collaboration with AWS, which is based on a shared commitment to fostering innovation and building the digital ecosystem in Malaysia.”
ELSA Corp. (ELSA) uses speech technology and artificial intelligence to help non-native English learners become more confident and fluent. The ELSA Speak app is used in more than 100 countries. “Through our collaboration with AWS, we have helped more than 50 million English learners improve their language skills and accelerate our global market expansion,” said Will Polese, Vice President, Revenue at ELSA. “AWS’ flexible configuration options for computing, databases, and storing large amounts of real-time data enable ELSA to handle rapid growth in user numbers and achieve high levels of user satisfaction. The new AWS Malaysia Region will expand our capabilities and help us deliver reliable, low-latency solutions to our customers and end users. With this investment, AWS demonstrates its commitment to supporting the digital economy and improving inclusion through technology.”
GXBank is Malaysia’s first digital bank, committed to increasing the financial security of every Malaysian. “With the support of AWS, we were able to launch GXBank in 16 months and execute 13 million transactions for more than 750,000 customers in just eight months,” said Pei-Si Lai, CEO of GXBank. “We are delighted to welcome the AWS Region to Malaysia, which provides Malaysian businesses, entrepreneurs and SMEs with a scalable and secure digital infrastructure to develop seamless customer experiences. Together with AWS, we aim to help democratize access to financial services using modern technologies and promote financial inclusion across the ASEAN region.”
PETRONAS is a global energy and solutions provider with a presence in over 50 countries. The company uses AWS for new and existing solutions such as Malaysia’s first e-wallet (SETEL) for purchasing fuel and a cloud-based logistics solution and services platform (STEAR) for the offshore industry. “Digital technologies are central to all areas of our business. Cloud services enable our initiatives in artificial intelligence, IoT, advanced analytics, robotics and data management,” said Ir. Mohd Yusri Mohamed Yusof, Senior Vice President, Project Delivery and Technology, PETRONAS. “AWS’ investment in Malaysia will meet our data residency requirements, improve performance and increase the country’s digital capabilities. I am excited by the opportunities this investment can create in Malaysia to become a regional leader in the digital economy.”
RTM, the national public broadcaster in Malaysia, uses AWS to build and scale innovative applications for millions of customers using its digital media delivery platform RTMKlik. “With the launch of the AWS Malaysia Region, we will be able to leverage AWS generative AI services like Bedrock to develop transformative innovations for RTMKlik and tailor our content to the preferences of each RTMKlik user,” said Datuk Suhaimi Sulaiman, Director General at RTM. “AWS has helped us improve RTMKlik’s inclusion by providing value-added services such as live subtitles to help hearing-impaired viewers better understand and follow live broadcasts. Advancements like these improve the user experience and enable us to reach a wide audience. AWS has been instrumental in making RTMKlik a more dynamic, accessible and user-centric platform.”
TNB, a leading utility company in Asia, serves more than 9.5 million commercial, industrial and residential customers in Malaysia. In cooperation with AWS, TNB is accelerating its digital transformation to improve the customer experience and develop innovative smart energy solutions. “As part of our 10-year plan ‘Reimagining TNB’, we are working with AWS to build digital capabilities and infrastructure that support the decarbonization goals of our business units,” explains Azlan Ahmad, Chief Information Officer at TNB. “Digital solutions are key to modernizing the power grid and expanding renewable energy capacity. At the same time, we support our customers with groundbreaking digital platforms. Through collaborations like this, TNB is helping to shape the future of sustainable and efficient energy, ensuring that we meet growing energy needs and take a pioneering role in the energy transition.”
The worldwide AWS Partner Network (APN) includes tens of thousands of independent software vendors (ISVs) and systems integrators (SIs). AWS Partners develop innovative solutions and services on AWS, and the APN provides critical business development, technology, marketing, and go-to-market support to customers. AWS ISVs, Technology Partners, SIs, and Consulting Partners help private and public sector customers migrate to AWS and implement business-critical applications, and provide a broad range of monitoring, automation, and management services for customers’ cloud environments. AWS Partners in Malaysia include Accenture, Aerodyne, Axrail, CelcomDigi, Deloitte, eCloudvalley, Exabytes, G-AsiaPacific, GHL, Kyndryl, Maxis, Radmik Solutions, Silverlake Axis, SoftwareOne, Tapway, Uberfusion, and VSTECS.
G-AsiaPacific is a fully integrated cloud consulting company based in Malaysia, operating across the Asia Pacific region, and a Consulting Partner of the AWS Partner Network. “The new AWS Malaysia Region is a unique opportunity for us to develop even better service offerings for our clients in the public sector, financial services, education, and other industries,” said Mark Goh, CEO and co-founder of G-AsiaPacific. “With AWS, we can help our clients establish key internal data and compliance policies while meeting local data residency and security requirements. AWS’s advanced technologies enable our clients to test and iterate faster and more cost-effectively, accelerating innovation cycles across an increasing number of industries. We plan to develop a larger pool of highly skilled cloud talent to better leverage the latest AWS capabilities and drive the growth of Malaysia’s dynamic digital economy.”
Tapway, a Malaysian startup and a leading AI solutions provider in Southeast Asia, uses AWS data analytics and ML technologies such as Amazon SageMaker to extract actionable insights from images and videos for various industries. The startup’s SamurAI computer vision solution on AWS is available on AWS Marketplace. “The launch of an AWS Region in Malaysia reduces latency in accessing key cloud services that power and scale our rapidly growing AI vision platform in a data-compliant manner,” said Lim Chee How, Founder and CEO of Tapway. “We look forward to seeing how AWS’ infrastructure investment in Malaysia will enable Tapway to enable even more people to quickly and cost-effectively develop, train, and deploy AI vision technology solutions using their locally stored big data.”
Training of employees in Malaysia
Since 2017, AWS Malaysia has provided cloud skills to more than 100,000 employees in Malaysia. AWS continues to invest in training developers, students, and the next generation of IT leaders in Malaysia to equip them with in-demand cloud skills through the AWS Skills to Jobs Tech Alliance and AWS training and certification programs such as AWS Academy . AWS Academy provides higher education institutions worldwide with a free, ready-made cloud computing curriculum that prepares students for industry-recognized AWS certifications and in-demand cloud jobs. Currently, AWS Academy offers courses at 49 universities in East and West Malaysia, including Asia Pacific University of Technology and Innovation (APU), Tunku Abdul Rahman University of Management and Technology (TAR UMT), and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, covering cloud fundamentals, cloud architecture, cloud operations, cloud development, and data engineering, as well as specialized certifications in machine learning, cybersecurity, and other areas. Since 2018, more than 25,000 students have received training through the AWS Academy program.
In July 2024, AWS and PayNet introduced the AWS re/Start -powered AKAR program—a new initiative to strengthen cloud skills in Malaysia—to address the growing skills gap in Malaysia’s digital economy. The AKAR program is the first financial services-focused cloud training program designed specifically for entry-level professionals in Malaysia. The 47-day training course, which culminates in the AWS Cloud Practitioner certification, equips college students with transferable skills that can fuel careers in the financial services sector. In July 2024, PayNet and AWS welcomed the first cohort of learners from Asia Pacific University. Upon completion of the program, these students will have the opportunity to undertake internships with organizations across the PayNet payments network.
AWS helps companies like PETRONAS accelerate their digital transformation through AWS Skills Guild – a consulting program that helps companies establish an enterprise-wide cloud enablement initiative to apply skills and drive community development. PETRONAS trains its employees on cloud fundamentals through self-paced online training.
Commitment to sustainability
Amazon has committed to The Climate Pledge to become a more sustainable company and achieve net-zero carbon emissions across all its operations by 2040, ten years ahead of the Paris Agreement. Amazon co-founded The Climate Pledge and was an initial signatory in 2019. In December 2023, PKT Logistics Group became the first Malaysian signatory to The Climate Pledge.
In July 2024, Amazon announced that it had met its goal of generating 100% renewable energy for all of its global operations—including data centers, corporate buildings, grocery stores, and fulfillment centers—by 2023, seven years ahead of its original 2030 goal. Toward that goal, Amazon has been the world’s largest corporate purchaser of renewable energy since 2020. It is estimated that Amazon-supported solar and wind farms attracted billions of dollars in global investment from 2014 to 2022. In addition, AWS has committed to achieving water positive performance by 2030 by returning more water to communities than is used for direct company operations.
