Media

Keywords: Capital Hub, Capacity Engine, Regional Synergy, Green Intelligence

Against the backdrop of the rapidly growing digital economy in the Asia-Pacific region, data centers—often referred to as the “power plants of the digital world”—have become strategic assets that countries are competing to develop.

According to Cushman & Wakefield’s latest Asia-Pacific Data Center Report, the region’s data center market maintained robust expansion in the first half of this year, with approximately 2,300 megawatts of new development projects. Among them, Thailand and Malaysia stood out, together contributing 64% of the total new capacity.

Among the key Asia-Pacific markets, Johor surged to third place with remarkable growth momentum, positioning itself as one of the most promising markets in the region. Meanwhile, although Singapore ranks eighth in total capacity, it continues to demonstrate its unique strength as a stable and strategic hub. Together, Singapore and Johor are forming a complementary and synergistic growth pattern, reshaping the regional data center landscape.

Singapore: A Stable Capital and Governance Hub

As of the first half of 2025, Singapore’s operational data center capacity stands at 1,002 megawatts (MW), with 20 MW under construction and 226 MW planned, maintaining overall stability. Although Singapore’s growth in new capacity is limited, its strength lies not in expansion but in the “soft power” of finance and governance.

 

 

Capital Market Investments Remain Highly Active:

• Puppin Data (PDG): Raised USD 2.5 billion (approximately SGD 3.2 billion) through debt and equity financing to support expansion plans across the Asia-Pacific region.
• Keppel Corporation’s Data Center Fund III: Completed its first fundraising of USD 580 million, earmarked for investments in large-scale AI data centers.
• Nxera, a Regional Data Center Platform by a New Telecom Player: Secured a five-year green loan of USD 475.9 million to develop a 58 MW data center in Tuas.

NTT Data Center REIT: Recently listed on the Singapore Exchange, managing six operational data centers with a total value of USD 1.57 billion. This represents the largest IPO in the local market in nearly a decade.

These active capital activities collectively indicate that investors continue to place strong bets on Singapore as a capital and management hub, reflecting high confidence in the market. The elevated activity in the private equity sector highlights the long-term investment appeal of the data center industry, as well as the growing societal and market demand for artificial intelligence and large-scale platform infrastructure.

Governance and Regional Headquarters Functions：

Facing the complex regulatory landscape of the Asia-Pacific region, Singapore’s sophisticated and modern governance, along with its transparent and fair institutional framework, provides critical institutional safeguards for businesses. Its clear regulations and mature legal system significantly reduce compliance risks and operational uncertainties.

Leveraging these advantages, Singapore has become the preferred location for multinational companies to conduct regional strategic planning, allocate resources, and manage key clients, serving as an indispensable strategic hub.

Johor: A High-Growth Expansion Engine

 

 

In contrast to Singapore’s stability, Johor is experiencing explosive growth:

In the first half of this year, Johor’s operational data center capacity increased by 160 MW compared to the second half of last year, a growth of 40%.
Capacity under construction surged 87% to 422 MW,
while planned capacity grew 61% to 1,324 MW.
Johor’s total data center capacity is expected to exceed 1 gigawatt by the end of 2026.

Johor initially developed its data centers to accommodate overflow demand from Singapore. Today, with advantages in land, energy, and power costs, it is rapidly emerging as a regional hub for cloud computing and artificial intelligence deployments across Southeast Asia.

Singapore’s depth in capital and governance complements Johor’s breadth in cost efficiency and capacity, forming a natural synergy. Given the physical constraints of land and energy, expansion of data centers within Singapore faces a clear “capacity ceiling.”

To convert its core strengths into lasting regional influence, the key lies in finding an efficient “strategic hinterland” to absorb growing demand. Johor, adjacent and complementary, perfectly fulfills this role.

 

Dual-Engine Drive: Regional Synergy

 

 

The strategic collaboration between the two locations not only achieves complementary advantages but also generates multi-layered systemic benefits:

Capital and Capacity Synergy
Capital is highly concentrated and efficiently allocated in Singapore, while Johor, with its lower land and energy costs, serves as an ideal site for capacity deployment. This division of roles significantly enhances investment efficiency and risk management.

Management and Business Synergy
Multinational companies establish regional headquarters in Singapore, leveraging its mature business environment to handle strategy, client relations, and high-end services. Johor, on the other hand, focuses on large-scale deployment and operation of computing infrastructure, taking advantage of its cost and scale benefits. Together, they form a complete business value chain.

Green and Innovation Synergy
From green loans to the adoption of sustainable data center standards, financing and construction projects in both locations are jointly driving the regional data center sector toward more environmentally friendly and intelligent operations, laying a sustainable foundation for future digital economy growth.

This deep collaboration model demonstrates that Singapore and Johor have evolved from the traditional “primary market + overflow market” relationship into a tightly linked, parallel complementary framework of capital, management, and capacity. This “New Singapore–Johor Model” provides greater resilience and higher efficiency for data center development across the Asia-Pacific region.

 

Conclusion

The collaborative development of Singapore and Johor is shaping a new landscape for Asia-Pacific data centers: Singapore provides stable leadership in capital and governance, while Johor rapidly deploys capacity and computing power. For enterprises, this “dual-engine” strategy not only offers an optimal combination of resources and operations but also fully unleashes regional collaboration potential, injecting strong momentum into the future of the Asia-Pacific digital economy.