KUALA LUMPUR, May 30 (Reuters) - Google will invest $2

billion in Malaysia to develop its first data centre and Google

Cloud region in the country, the unit of Alphabet said

on Thursday, the latest in a wave of expansion by global tech

firms into Southeast Asia.

The government said the investment would advance Malaysia's

digital ambitions, and the artificial intelligence (AI)

capabilities and other advanced technologies would help local

industry move up the global value chain.

With a young tech-savvy population of 670 million, Southeast

Asia has been attracting plenty of interest and investment

recently from technology giants including Microsoft ( MSFT ),

Amazon ( AMZN ), Nvidia ( NVDA ) and Apple ( AAPL ).

Google said in a statement the data centre and cloud region

will be located in Sime Darby Property's Elmina

Business Park in central Selangor state.

The data centre will power services including Search, Maps

and Workspace, and will help deliver AI services, while the

cloud centre will offer services to local firms and public

sector organisations, it said.

"Malaysia and Google are partnering to advance our shared

work to create a supportive ecosystem for innovation and unlock

the potential of digital transformation," Google's Chief

Financial Officer Ruth Porat said in the statement.

Last November, the government and Google announced a

collaboration aimed at accelerating innovation domestically.

Other tech giants have also been announcing large

investments in the region. Microsoft ( MSFT ) CEO Satya Nadella announced

cloud services investments worth $2.2 billion in Malaysia and

$1.7 billion in Indonesia during a recent visit to the region.

In December, Malaysian conglomerate YTL's utilities unit

announced it would partner with Nvidia ( NVDA ) to develop AI

infrastructure in a $4.3 billion investment deal.

Amazon ( AMZN ) has announced plans to invest $9 billion in

Singapore, $5 billion in Thailand and $6 billion in Malaysia.