In what were once wild jungle and palm oil plantations in southern Malaysia, the likes of TikTok, Nvidia and Microsoft are racing to install the building blocks of the digital economy: data centres.
Billions of dollars are being invested in the state of Johor, just a few kilometres from Singapore, by companies taking advantage of cheaper land and more abundant energy for computer infrastructure while staying close to south-east Asia’s biggest financial centre.
Johor’s fortunes may soon be more closely tied to those of its wealthy neighbour. Malaysia’s king, the motorbike-riding billionaire Sultan of Johor, is championing an effort to bind his state closer to Singapore in a single economic zone, expected to include tax breaks and smoother cross-border trade.