Dubai’s Damac Group to Spend $1B in Thai Data Center Push

(Bloomberg) -- A subsidiary of Dubai-based Damac Group is investing around $1 billion in a data center project in Thailand, the latest to join a global push by technology companies to build cloud and AI infrastructure in Southeast Asia.

Damac’s United Arab Emirates-headquartered Edgnex Data Centers plans to invest more than 32 billion baht in three to four data center projects though a joint venture with local data center provider Proen Corporation, the companies said in a statement Friday. The first, to be located in downtown Bangkok, will go online by March with an initial 5 MW of capacity, to be expanded to 20 MW.

The investment follows a plan by Alphabet’s Google to spend $1 billion to build data centers in Thailand to meet surging demand for artificial intelligence. That move is widely expected to bolster the kingdom’s attempts to kickstart a sputtering economy, which has been plagued by high household debt.

Southeast Asia, with its population of about 685 million people, is fast emerging as a growth opportunity for Microsoft Corporation, Nvidia Corporation, and Amazon, which are spending billions of dollars on AI infrastructure in the region.

Damac will expand the Bangkok data center’s capacity as the government beefs up initiatives to build a digital economy, the group’s founder Hussain Sajwani said in an interview. “As the demand is cooking up and growing, we will be looking to launch that - it’s a gradual process,” he said. 

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Potential clients include hyperscalers and AI-related businesses, as well as government agencies, he said. Damac has a pipeline of approximately 100 megawatts of future data center capacity.

The company also plans to invest in high-end residential projects, Sajwani said, adding that Damac’s foray into Thailand could pave the way for other Dubai-based companies to invest in the Southeast Asian country.