KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said Oracle's investment decision reflects the confidence and commitment of global technology companies in Malaysia's potential as a regional gateway for cloud infrastructure and supporting the growth of the regional artificial intelligence (AI) ecosystem.

Anwar, who is also the Finance Minister, welcomed Oracle's announcement today that it will open its first public cloud centre in Malaysia with an investment amounting to US$6.5 billion (RM26.98 billion).

"The clarity of policies and strategic cooperation approach implemented by the Madani Government has successfully attracted investment from the world's leading technology companies such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, Google and most recently, Oracle.

"The entire project announced by these companies so far involves an estimated investment worth US$16.9 billion," he said in his official X.com account today. 

According to the prime minister, it is important for the local workforce and companies to seize the best opportunities from these investments.

"In a series of discussions with investors, including the top management of these companies, I emphasised the importance of expanding long-term benefits to Malaysia, including the development of centres of excellence, AI faculty and the empowerment of community groups. 

"I am confident that with the support of all parties, the goals and targets of Madani Economy will be achieved," he added.

Earlier today, Oracle said the upcoming cloud region will enable its customers and partners in Malaysia to leverage AI infrastructure and services and migrate mission-critical workloads to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI).

It said that the planned public cloud region will help organisations in Malaysia modernise their applications, migrate all types of workloads to the cloud, and innovate with data, analytics, and AI.