Rethinking Data Centre Locations: A Look at Tanjong Malim’s Growing Relevance

As Malaysia’s data centre strategy expands beyond Johor and Cyberjaya, attention is turning to Tanjong Malim. Five strategically located plots in Sungai Samak Estate, near Proton City, are emerging as a timely opportunity for developers aligned with next generation data centre and high-technology manufacturing needs.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, December 26, 2025 — Malaysia’s Data Centre Map is Being Redrawn

For years, Malaysia’s data centre industry has been concentrated in familiar locations: southern Johor, Cyberjaya and selected parts of Selangor. These hubs benefited from early infrastructure investments and proximity to Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. Today, however, the demands of hyperscale, AI-ready and next generation data centres are changing the equation.

Industry observers point to land constraints, rising costs, saturated power capacity and environmental considerations as factors pushing developers to reassess where future facilities should be located. At the same time, Malaysia’s broader economic strategy is shifting toward advanced manufacturing, digital infrastructure and sustainability, laying the groundwork for new data centre corridors to emerge.

It is within this evolving landscape that Tanjong Malim, a town of roughly 100,000 people located about an hour’s drive from Kuala Lumpur, is drawing increasing attention.

Tanjong Malim and the Rise of an Advanced High Technology Valley

Tanjong Malim’s transformation has been underway for several years, anchored by Proton City, home to Malaysia’s national carmaker Proton. The narrative has recently gained new momentum with the announcement of an electric vehicle assembly plant by China-based EV giant BYD, set to serve Malaysia and nearby Southeast Asian markets.

Together, these investments signal more than just automotive growth. They form the nucleus of what policymakers and industrial planners refer to as an advanced high technology valley, where manufacturing, automation, electrification and digital systems intersect.

Data centres, particularly those serving industrial digitalisation, AI, smart manufacturing and regional cloud demand, are increasingly seen as a natural extension of this ecosystem. As manufacturing becomes more data-intensive, proximity between production facilities and digital infrastructure offers efficiency, resilience and scalability.

Sungai Samak Estate: Five Plots at the Centre of the Shift

Against this backdrop, five plots of strategically located land in Sungai Samak Estate are now coming into focus. Situated a short distance from Proton City, these parcels offer a geography that aligns closely with the requirements of modern data centre Malaysia developers and industrial estate planners.

Unlike scattered or landlocked sites, the Sungai Samak Estate plots provide contiguous space suitable for integrated development. This is a growing priority for next generation data centres, which increasingly require room not only for server halls, but also for energy infrastructure, cooling systems and future expansion.

The intent for these five plots is clear: to support development into industrial estates or integrated data centres with onsite solar energy generation capabilities and access to water cooling resources. Such characteristics address two of the most pressing challenges facing data centre Southeast Asia projects today—power sustainability and thermal management.

Power, Cooling and Sustainability as Strategic Advantages

As data centres evolve to support AI workloads and high-density computing, energy and cooling considerations are becoming central to site selection. Developers now look beyond grid access alone, evaluating locations that can accommodate renewable energy generation and advanced cooling technologies.

The Sungai Samak Estate plots are being assessed with these realities in mind. The availability of land suitable for onsite solar installations offers developers a pathway to offset energy demand, meet environmental targets and align with global ESG expectations. Meanwhile, the broader Tanjong Malim corridor provides opportunities for water-based cooling solutions that are difficult to retrofit in more congested urban locations.

These attributes position the area as a credible contender in discussions around next generation data centre development, particularly for operators seeking long-term scalability rather than short-term capacity fixes.

Beyond Johor and Cyberjaya: A Broader National Strategy

The growing interest in Tanjong Malim reflects a wider recalibration of Malaysia’s digital infrastructure strategy. While Johor and Cyberjaya remain important nodes, they are no longer the default answer for every project.

Government agencies have highlighted the need to distribute digital infrastructure more evenly, supporting regional growth while mitigating concentration risks. The push toward electrification, Industry 4.0 adoption among manufacturers, and carbon management frameworks further reinforces the case for new data centre locations tied closely to industrial clusters.

In this context, Tanjong Malim’s connectivity—via major highways, rail links and its proximity to Kuala Lumpur—adds to its appeal. Developers evaluating the five Sungai Samak Estate plots are effectively positioning themselves at the intersection of manufacturing growth and digital infrastructure expansion.

Urgency in a Narrowing Window

While interest is building, industry participants caution that such opportunities are finite. Large, strategically located land parcels suitable for integrated data centre and industrial development are increasingly scarce, particularly those near established manufacturing anchors like Proton City and BYD’s upcoming facility.

As data centre Southeast Asia investment accelerates, early movers often secure advantages in planning approvals, infrastructure partnerships and ecosystem integration. The five plots at Sungai Samak Estate represent a limited window for developers seeking to establish a foothold in what could become one of Malaysia’s most consequential high technology manufacturing centres.

Those exploring these opportunities are encouraged to review detailed site information and development parameters through official channels such as https://sgsamak.com, which outlines land availability and the broader vision for the estate. Direct engagement and preliminary discussions can be initiated via https://sgsamak.com/contact-us.

Looking Ahead: A Quiet but Defining Moment

It may be premature to label Tanjong Malim as Malaysia’s next data centre capital. Yet the indicators are difficult to ignore. Industrial momentum, policy alignment, land availability and sustainability considerations are converging in ways that mirror earlier phases of growth seen in Johor and Cyberjaya—before they became saturated.

For developers, infrastructure investors and operators tracking data centre Malaysia trends, the emergence of Sungai Samak Estate is less about hype and more about timing. The decisions made over the next few years will shape where next generation data centres are built, how they support manufacturing, and how Malaysia positions itself within the digital economy of Southeast Asia.

In that context, the five plots near Proton City are not merely parcels of land. They represent an inflection point in how data centres, energy systems and high-technology manufacturing may co-locate—and grow—together in the decade ahead.

Contact Info:
Name: Holly Lim
Email: Send Email
Organization: Sungai Samak Estate
Address: 2 Jalan Sempurna off Jalan Gombak , Kuala Lumpur, Federal Territory 53000, Malaysia
Website: https://sgsamak.com

Source: NewsNetwork

Release ID: 89179578

If you detect any issues, problems, or errors in this press release content, kindly contact [email protected] to notify us (it is important to note that this email is the authorized channel for such matters, sending multiple emails to multiple addresses does not necessarily help expedite your request). We will respond and rectify the situation in the next 8 hours.