Malaysia’s DNeX Partners with Google Cloud for Sovereign Cloud Services

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysian technology firm Dagang NeXchange Berhad (DNeX) and Google Cloud announced a multi-year deal on Monday to provide sovereign cloud services in Malaysia.

The announcement comes as Google, a unit of Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL), expands its presence in Southeast Asia. In May, Google stated it would invest $2 billion to develop its first data center and Google Cloud region in Malaysia.

The partnership aims to address the growing demand for cloud solutions meeting stringent data residency, security, and privacy requirements, especially within regulated industries like public services, financial services, healthcare, and energy, according to a joint statement from the companies.

Under the agreement, DNeX will be authorized to operate Google Distributed Cloud, which offers “air-gapped” solutions for Malaysian organizations—meaning it can function without an internet connection or a Google Cloud region. The firms did not disclose the deal’s value or timeframe.

“Google Cloud and DNeX will empower organizations with the state-of-the-art distributed cloud infrastructure, developer tools, and AI services they need to drive digital transformation on their own terms,” said Karan Bajwa, Vice President of Google Cloud Asia Pacific, in the statement.

DNeX and Google Cloud are also exploring the establishment of an AI center of excellence, focusing on nurturing local talent in artificial intelligence.