Johor tech township seeks to tap data centre rush in Singapore

It is positioning its industry hub as the next landing spot for players across border

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Sedenak Tech Park West (StepWest), a data centre hub within Ibrahim Technopolis (IBTEC) in Johor, is being positioned as the next landing spot for Singapore-based data centre and logistics players who are feeling the squeeze of rising land costs across the border.

IBTEC, a 2,950ha tech township, is located within the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ).

Its developer, JLand Group, is targeting around RM40 billion (S$12.6 billion) in new investments at StepWest over the next three years, its managing director, Mr Akmal Ahmad, said at a media briefing on Dec 2 in Johor Bahru.

JLand is the real estate and infrastructure arm of Johor Corporation (JCorp), the state's investment arm.

Mr Akmal said StepEast, a data centre hub within IBTEC launched earlier, has already secured more than RM30 billion in committed investments from 11 international operators.

These data centre operators are from China, the US, Singapore and Malaysia, which collectively have a planned information technology load of roughly 1,770MW, he added.

StepWest, which offers 22 plots ranging from 2ha to 23ha, is now being positioned for the next wave of hyperscalers and co-location players.

IBTEC is aiming to be an "innovation sandbox" where firms can test solutions in a live environment before scaling regionally.

The pitch from Malaysia's southern state: pre-built power, connectivity and transport infrastructure designed to cut time-to-operations, said Mr Akmal ahead of the industrial park's launch in Kota Iskandar this week.

He said Malaysian tech parks have often taken a "property-first" approach and struggled to build a real economic engine.