MTD TV Powering Up for APAC Data Centre Forum Next Week

One of Asia Pacific’s hottest asset classes grabs the spotlight next week at the Mingtiandi APAC Data Centre Forum, as MTD TV returns with live streaming of the online event’s five sessions.

The sixth edition of the Data Centre Forum, which is sponsored by Yardi, comes as 62 percent of investors identify data centres as a top priority within their real estate strategy, according to Mingtiandi’s 2025 Data Centre Survey conducted in July.

The forum kicks off on Thursday 11 September with a panel discussion on investing in Asia’s hyperscale market. To take a closer look at the race to build the infrastructure for the region’s AI boom, the show welcomes Diarmid Massey, CEO of data centres at ESR; Michael Tanujaya, head of investments and strategy at ST Telemedia Global Data Centres; Edwin Wong, partner at Baker McKenzie; and Bernie Devine, senior regional director for APAC at Yardi.

ESR’s data centre boss is speaking after the group teamed with US hyperscaler Stack Infrastructure to develop a 48-megawatt project in Incheon and a 72MW facility in Greater Osaka. STT GDC is also expanding rapidly in the region, having launched a 70MW facility in Japan and broken ground on the first phase of a 120MW Johor campus.

Mingtiandi’s poll of 84 real estate professionals found that 55 percent ranked hyperscale as the most attractive segment of APAC’s data centre market, followed by powered shell (20 percent) and co-location (12 percent).

Southeast Asian Surge

With Thailand and Malaysia accounting for 64 percent of newly planned capacity in APAC during the first half of 2025, according to Cushman & Wakefield, Southeast Asia is becoming the centre of data centre investment in the region.

To open the forum’s second week, a panel discussion on Tuesday 16 September brings together Yasuo Suzuki, executive vice president for APAC at NTT Global Data Centres; Woon Teng Koh, senior director for acquisitions at Digital Realty; and Baker McKenzie partner Robert Wright for a look at the forces attracting data centre investors to Southeast Asia, as well as the challenges of building platforms in the subregion’s developing economies.

NTT joins the forum after raising $773 million in Singapore’s largest REIT IPO in more than a decade, while Digital Realty is extending its regional presence through a new joint venture in Indonesia with Bersama Digital Infrastructure Asia.

Southeast Asia continues to be the top target geography for data centres in APAC, per Mingtiandi’s survey, with 36 percent of respondents identifying the subregion as offering the best investment opportunity during the next 12-14 months, followed by Japan (24 percent) and India (12 percent).

Spotlight Chats With Bridge, PDG

The forum’s second week continues with a pair of spotlight interviews with key executives from private-equity-backed regional data centre platforms, plus a panel discussion on digital infrastructure opportunities in Japan and Korea.

After securing a record $2.8 billion financing earlier this year, Bridge Data Centres makes its MTD TV debut on Wednesday 17 September with a one-on-one interview with chief investment officer Kevin Guan, who will share how the company is scaling across Asia’s fastest-growing digital markets.

East Asia comes into focus on Thursday 18 September with a panel featuring Yasuo Suzuki, executive vice president and managing director for APAC at NTT Global Data Centres; Phillipa Weber, executive director for asset management at Goldman Sachs; Dae Hyun Choi, head of Asia investments at DCI Data Centres; and Jingwen Ong, APAC research manager at DC Byte.

The four will examine how booming digital economies and rising demand for server facilities in Japan and Korea are attracting large-scale investments and new platforms.

The forum draws to a close on Friday 19 September with Princeton Digital Group chairman and CEO Rangu Salgame, who returns to MTD TV with a spotlight interview highlighting the company’s strategies for scaling and growth amid the AI-driven expansion.