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Cheryl Arcibal

The artificial intelligence boom is partially spurring investment in Asia-Pacific’s data centre properties with a record US$11.6 billion worth of capital poured into the segment in 2025, according to CBRE.
In Hong Kong, while AI-related demand is unlikely to be met because of technical limitations, leasing of data centre space was supported by “hyperscale CSPs (cloud service providers), mainland Chinese technology and e-commerce companies and financial institutions”, the property consultancy said.
Across the region, markets such as Malaysia, Australia and India were leading the growth in live capacity – a measure of usable resources including power and space available for deployment. Johor in southern Malaysia has boosted its live capacity by 53 per cent on an annual basis, while the Australian city of Melbourne has added 37 per cent, the report released on Thursday said.
Meanwhile, in mature markets such as Hong Kong and Singapore, live capacity growth was around 6 per cent to 8 per cent, CBRE said.
“AI is reshaping how infrastructure is selected and deployed across Asia-Pacific,” said Matt Madden, senior managing director for data centre solutions in Asia-Pacific for CBRE.

A new class of AI-focused cloud providers is also emerging as an additional source of demand. Neoclouds are those providers that specialise in high-performance computing infrastructure for AI workloads.
“For neocloud providers, access to power is increasingly outweighing traditional location advantages,” Madden said. “This is directing demand towards markets that can support high-density campuses at scale, particularly across India, Malaysia and parts of Southeast Asia.”
Adoption, however, remains selective as some landlords are still cautious, especially when tenant credit profiles are less established.
In Hong Kong, mainland Chinese developer Range Intelligent Computing Technology broke ground on a US$3 billion project for a new data centre early this year in the Northern Metropolis.
The centre was expected to become a core engine for promoting the development of Hong Kong’s AI industry, attracting firms and talent, and aligning with China’s 15th five-year plan from 2026 to 2030.
Still, CBRE said technical limitations were inhibiting Hong Kong’s ability to cater to AI-related demand.
“Most data centres in the city are designed for five- to 15-kilowatt per rack, which is insufficient to support the high-density requirements of 40-kilowatt or above for AI-driven workloads,” it said.
Despite this, Hong Kong’s advantage in the segment was being a “compliant, low-risk gateway to bridge operations between mainland China and international markets”, said Chris Young, senior director of capital markets at JLL.
“Given that AI inference prioritises low latency and high-speed data pipelines, Hong Kong’s unparalleled concentration of submarine cable landing stations positions it as an ideal regional hub for routing AI tokens and agent workflows instantly across the Asia-Pacific region,” Young said.
Moreover, government initiatives such as the Smart City Blueprint have further accelerated adoption, prompting local sectors, including but not limited to banking and finance, logistics and manufacturing, to migrate away from on-premise infrastructure towards hybrid cloud environments, JLL noted.
“We maintain a cautiously optimistic long-term outlook for Hong Kong’s data centre sector,” said Young.
“Current investment demand is being driven by growth in both traditional cloud services and AI inference workloads,” he said.
“Demand for traditional and hybrid cloud solutions, as well as co-location services, has remained steady, primarily fuelled by multinational corporations seeking a dual-jurisdiction node.”


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Adoption remains selective as some landlords are still cautious, especially when tenant credit profiles are less established


Adoption remains selective as some landlords are still cautious, especially when tenant credit profiles are less established.


AI boom fuels US$11.6b data centre investment in Asia-Pacific as Hong Kong eyes niche role

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Adoption remains selective as some landlords are still cautious, especially when tenant credit profiles are less established

Adoption remains selective as some landlords are still cautious, especially when tenant credit profiles are less established