KUALA LUMPUR, July 22 (Reuters) - Malaysia will

establish a data centre framework in October to streamline

policies and development in the sector, the trade and digital

ministries said on Tuesday.

The Malaysian Investment Development Authority will be the

main agency to approve all new data centre projects and

investments, as well as the expansion of existing projects, the

ministries said in a joint statement.

Malaysia has recently seen a boom in data centres, driven by

growing demand for artificial intelligence, with technology

giants like Microsoft ( MSFT ), Nvidia ( NVDA ), Alphabet's

Google and ByteDance announcing billions of dollars of

investments in the country since the beginning of last year.

Data centre facilities in the Southeast Asian country are

projected to quadruple in the next decade from the current

18. The government's framework will ensure that policies are

aligned with data centre planning in a way that will drive the

growth of Malaysia's digital economy, the ministries said.

"Transparent and thorough policies are important to continue

reassuring investors about the goals of sustainable growth in

the country's digital economy for the benefit of the Malaysian

people and business sectors," Digital Minister Gobind Singh Deo

said in the statement.