09/06/2026

Editorial T: 03-7784 6688 F: 03-7785 2625 E: sunbiz@thesundaily.com Advertising T: 03-7784 8888 E: advertise@thesundaily.com

SCAN ME

TUESDAY | JUNE 9, 2026

Task force already addressing data centre issues: Gobind

Penang to step up sustainability drive amid strong economy GEORGE TOWN: The Penang govern ment will continue to strengthen its sustainability agenda after the state ranked 11th nationally in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) for Malaysian States 2025 Report, despite being among the country’s strongest economic per formers. Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said Penang’s score of 67.84 out of 100 in the report served as a reminder that economic prosperity and sustainable development do not always go hand in hand. “While Penang has performed well economically, we must continue strengthening our efforts in areas such as environmental stewardship, resource management, social well-being and long-term resilience,“ he said when opening the Penang Development Corporation (PDC) Sustainability Con ference 2026 here yesterday. He noted that Penang remains one of Malaysia’s most dynamic economies, with its gross domestic product per capita in 2024 exceeding the national average by more than 34%. Its labour force participation rate stood at 72%, compared with the national average of 70.6%. Speaking to reporters later, Chow, who is also PDC chairman, said sustainability has remained a priority for the state government since the launch of the Cleaner-Greener Penang initiative in 2008 and was further reinforced through the Penang2030 vision introduced in 2018. He said the Penang Green Council leads the state’s Green Agenda, a master plan that guides and strengthens environmental initiatives across Penang. The state has also prioritised energy transition efforts, including increasing renewable energy adoption and ad vancing broader sustainability initiatives. Ongoing measures include developing public green spaces and installing solar panels, although further improvements remain possible, he said. Meanwhile, PDC CEO Abdul Latiff Abd Aziz said the agency remains committed to supporting the state’s development agenda while integrating sustainable practices into its planning and opera tions. He said this commitment is guided by the PDC SDG-ESG Sustainability Initiative Plan 2024-2028, which provides a roadmap for embedding sustainability across its operations, development projects and subsidiaries. – Bernama

Ű BY JOHN GILBERT sunbiz@thesundaily.com

The National AI Office, which comes under the Digital Ministry, will play a central role in driving the country’s AI Nation 2030 agenda. “Ultimately, this will be the agency that drives the AI Nation 2030 vision forward,” Gobind said, adding that work is progressing steadily, although establishing a new agency requires time and careful planning. “We are working hard and trying to get it done as quickly as possible, but some of these things take time,” he said. Digital Realty, the world’s largest cloud- and carrier-neutral data centre platform, established its Malaysia platform, marking a key milestone in its Asia-Pacific ex pansion. The company has announced plans to develop and scale its data centre capacity in Malaysia to about 32 megawatts (MW), integrating Malaysia into its global platform designed for interconnection, resi lience and scale. The plan includes KUL10, formerly known as TelcoHub 1, an operational carrier-dense facility with 1.5MW of IT capacity and one of Malaysia’s most connected data centre ecosystems. Digital Realty plans to upgrade the facility to its global standards and nearly double its capacity by the fourth quarter of 2027. It includes KUL11, a purpose-built data centre located about 500 metres from KUL10, with 15MW of IT capacity designed to support AI and high-performance computing workloads. The facility incorporates energy- and water-efficient features to support the sustainable growth of digital infrastructure. In addition, Digital Realty has acquired an adjacent 1.6-acre land parcel about 200 metres from KUL10, where it plans to develop a new 14MW data centre. Scheduled for completion in mid-2028, the facility will be built to the company’s global standards and designed to support hybrid co location and AI-ready deploy ments.

o Discussions ongoing about challenges, power and water supply needs, approvals and guardrails – with formation of digital commission in view

KUALA LUMPUR: The govern ment is already addressing issues related to data centre development through the Data Centre Task Force, even as it studies the possibility of establishing a formal data commission. Digital Minister Gobind Singh Deo said the task force, which is co-chaired by him and Invest ment, Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani, brings together all agencies involved in approving data centre applications. “We sit together to identify the challenges and determine how best to put in place the necessary guardrails to address them,” he told reporters at the launch of Digital Realty’s multi-site, AI-ready data centre anchored in Cyberjaya, yesterday. Among the issues being dis cussed are electricity supply, water resources, approval processes and emerging technologies linked to the sector. “All these discussions are already

Office, which was incubated within Microsoft over the past few years, is now ready to operate as a formal agency. “We are going to launch it on July 20. The prime minister (Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim) has given us the date,” he said. The office will be responsible for shaping AI-related policies, over seeing governance frameworks and strengthening the country’s AI ecosystem. “It is not just about governance and policy. We also want to develop local talent and capabilities so Malaysians can build AI solutions themselves,” Gobind said. He added that the government’s goal is for Malaysia to become a producer of AI technologies rather than merely a consumer.

ongoing. The question now is how we formalise this arrangement and bring it together under a single entity in the form of a data commission,” Gobind said. Gobind said the government is examining the legislative and statutory requirements for esta blishing such an agency. “In practice, the Data Centre Task Force is already up and running. What we are looking at now is how to institutionalise it,” he said. He expressed hope that the process could be finalised by the last quarter of this year. However, Gobind noted that setting up a new agency takes time, citing the National AI Office as an example. Gobind said the National AI

From left: Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation senior vice-president Wan Murdani Wan Mohamad, Malaysian Investment Development Authority deputy CEO, investment development, Zuaida Abdullah, Gobind, Digital Realty managing director and head of Asia-Pacific Serene Nah, CSF Advisers Sdn Bhd chairman and Digital Realty adviser for Malaysia Billy Lee and Digital Realty general manager, Southeast Asia and India, Govind Choudhary at the inauguration of Digital Realty’s Malaysian operations in Cyberjaya.

AirAsia enhances procedures to better support special-needs passengers PETALING JAYA: AirAsia has com pleted a review of the circumstances surrounding a family’s inability to travel on Flight AK 1776 from Singapore to Kuching on May 26 and has since introduced enhanced procedures to better support guests with specialised needs. child restraint devices (CRD) and other specialised travel requirements. As part of the effort, an enhanced standard operating procedure governing medically-approved CRD on board has been developed and submitted to the authorities for approval. sincerely apologise to the family for the inconvenience caused. Although the decision was made in accordance with the applicable safety requirements and operating procedures in place at the time, it was never our intention to prevent any guest from travelling. procedures that are more inclusive, which have been submitted to the relevant authorities for approval.” Guests are encouraged to refer to AirAsia’s support page for the latest information on travel requirements and guidance relating to specialised travel needs.

the options available. “We recognise that every guest’s circumstances and requirements are unique and this incident highlighted an opportunity for us to enhance our processes to better support guests with specialised needs. We are committed to ensuring our policies continue to evolve to meet the diverse needs of those we serve. Following our review, we have developed enhanced acceptance

“While we always strive to accommodate and support all guests to the greatest extent possible, there may be instances where safety and operational considerations determine

Captain Saravanan Subramaniam, chief safety and quality officer of AirAsia X (AirAsia Group) said: “The safety and wellbeing of our guests will always remain our highest priority. We

AirAsia said it appreciates the feedback shared by the guest and remains committed to making air travel accessible and inclusive for all guests.

In a statement yesterday, AirAsia said the review identified an opportunity to strengthen existing processes relating to the assessment of medically-approved