Unpacking Amazon and Tesla’s deals in Malaysia

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Hello reader,

I’ll be honest: As a consumer living in Singapore, Amazon and Tesla don’t really show up on my radar.

I do most of my shopping on regional ecommerce platforms like Shopee – I only use Amazon to buy ebooks for my Kindle – and given that I dislike driving and have no intentions toward car ownership, most of what I hear about Tesla is in relation to Elon Musk.

But of course, Amazon is more than just an ecommerce company, and while I may not be interested in Tesla’s electric cars personally, lots of other people are. Them investing and setting up something in a country – whether it’s data centers, sales offices, or factories – is usually good news.

Recently, both companies have announced deals in Malaysia. But are these as big a deal (haha) as they’re cracked up to be? My colleague Emmanuel unpacks them in today’s premium story.

Today we look at:

• What Amazon and Tesla’s deals in Malaysia are all about
• Singapore-based proptech firm Ohmyhome’s IPO
• Other newsy highlights such as Pinduoduo getting banned from the Google Play Store and Vingroup’s investment in ride-hailing firm Be

Premium summary

So, what’s the deal?

Image credit: Timmy Loen

Malaysia’s incumbent government seems pretty excited about Tesla and Amazon’s upcoming investments into the country.

Amazon is apparently going to commit US$6 billion until 2037, which will include building data centers. Meanwhile, Tesla will set up a sales and service office in Malaysia and build a network of electric car superchargers. Let’s go a little deeper into this.

• There’s been a bit of a lag: Malaysia seems a bit late to the game as Amazon has already poured in US$6.1 billion in Singapore since 2010. Last year, it announced its intent to invest US$5 billion into Indonesia. Meanwhile, Indonesia has plans to entice Tesla to build a “gigafactory” in the country.
• We’ve seen this before: This isn’t the first time tech giants have made plans in Malaysia, and there’s grounds for skepticism around how they’ll pan out. Microsoft, for one, had plans to build a data center in 2014 in Johor but it never happened. In 2021, the firm said it intends to build a data center in Kuala Lumpur instead, but it didn’t mention anything about its previous commitment.
• Issues in the system: While it’s good optics to have major tech companies keen on Malaysia, there are many systemic hurdles that need to be overcome to see their projects through.

Read more: Scrutinizing Amazon’s and Tesla’s Malaysian deals

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