The Damac Group, controlled by Dubai billionaire Hussain Sajwani, plans to invest 32 billion baht ($962 million) in data centers in Thailand amid rising demand for AI services.
In a statement released Tuesday, the company announced that its Edgnex unit will hold a 70% stake in a joint venture controlling the first data center.
“We aim to support Thailand’s growing digital economy and provide the necessary infrastructure for the next generation of AI-driven businesses,” Sajwani, founder of the Damac Group, said in the statement. “With this announcement, we substantially commit to the Thailand market, outlining a pipeline of approximately 100 MW [megawatts] of future data center capacity.”
The first phase will be a 20-megawatt data center, with the first 5-megawatt becoming operational by early 2025. That joint venture will launch its business operations by the end of this year.
In addition to Thailand, the company has expanded elsewhere in the region. In May, it announced plans to build a 15-megawatt data center in Jakarta, with the first phase slated for completion by the fourth quarter of 2025. The company did not disclose an investment value for that project.
Thailand has become one of the leading destinations for data center investment in Southeast Asia. Last month, Alphabet’s Google announced a $1 billion investment to bolster Thailand’s cloud computing and data center capabilities.
Sajwani, with a net worth of $5.1 billion according to Forbes’ real-time data, is chairman of Dubai-based luxury real estate developer Damac Properties, which he founded in 2002. He initially found success in the food services business, catering to U.S. military and construction giant Bechtel. In 2001, after Dubai began allowing foreign property ownership, Sajwani pivoted to real estate, quickly selling units in a residential building.
