JakartaPost-Oct 10, 2024
Communications and Information Minister Budi Arie Setiadi has admitted that global tech companies like Google and Microsoft prefer Malaysia to Indonesia as a location for data centers. He attributed this to lower electricity costs and attractive fiscal incentives in the neighboring country. “In Malaysia, electricity costs just 8 [US] cents per kilowatt-hour [kWh]. They also offer tax exemptions for capital goods and provide legal certainty for investors,” Budi said on Wednesday, as quoted by Kontan. Setyanto Hantoro, president commissioner at Indonesian data center operator Bersama Digital Data Centers (BDDC), highlighted that Indonesia’s electricity prices, ranging from 11 to 12 cents per kWh, were not competitive. Budi emphasized that Indonesia’s large population and abundant renewable energy resources could make it an appealing market for modern data centers, yet the country was only expected to attract $634 million in data center investment this year, significantly less than Malaysia. He underscored the need to improve the investment climate in the country and offer competitive incentives to attract global players. “I hope we can lower the electricity costs for data centers. We must not create the impression that investing in Indonesia is difficult,” he added.
Read more at: https://www.thejakartapost.com/business/2024/10/10/tech-giants-prefer-malaysia-for-data-centers-ri-govt-minister-admits.html.
