KUALA LUMPUR, March 20 (Reuters) - Microsoft ( MSFT ) will launch

its first cloud region in Malaysia with three data centres by

mid-year, the tech company said on Thursday, nearly a year after

it announced a $2.2 billion investment in the Southeast Asian

country.

The data centres, known as the Malaysia West cloud, will be

located in the greater Kuala Lumpur area and will start

operations in the second quarter, Laurence Si, managing director

of Microsoft Malaysia, said at a press conference.

Microsoft ( MSFT ) did not reveal the capacity of the data centres.

Asked if Microsoft ( MSFT ) has faced any issues in exporting chips to

Malaysia due to U.S. export controls on semiconductor chips, Si

said the company was monitoring the situation.

"At this point, everything is status quo for us. We do have

a good relationship with all the various stakeholders.

Everything that we intend to invest and go live with in our

region, that continues to stay on track," he said.

In May last year, Microsoft ( MSFT ) announced an investment of $2.2

billion over the next four years to expand its cloud and

artificial intelligence services in Malaysia.

Si said Microsoft ( MSFT ) estimated its commitments in Malaysia over

the next four years would generate $10.9 billion in revenues and

create more than 37,000 jobs.

"Local businesses and organisations will be able to innovate

faster and more securely, driving the country's progress towards

becoming the hub for cloud and AI growth in Southeast Asia", he

said.