Noting that data centres were among the primary users of RE, Bakri Jamaluddin (PN-Tangga Batu) said Singapore would be building its own data centres if Malaysia sells its RE to the republic.

This, he said, would spur the country’s economic growth.

“If we don’t sell and focus on ourselves, then data centres will come to operate in Malaysia,” Bakri told the Dewan Rakyat when debating the 2024 supply bill at the committee level.

“We grow the economy, open up job opportunities, and meet the carbon offset that we have been talking about.”

In May, the government lifted the ban on RE exports with the aim of improving the country’s policy on the green economy.

Economy minister Rafizi Ramli, in a joint press conference with natural resources, environment and climate change minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, said the decision to lift the ban would benefit companies in Malaysia that were in the RE business.

The ban on the export of RE was implemented in October 2021, under the Ismail Sabri Yaakob-led administration.

Subsequently in October, Malaysia agreed to provide RE to Singapore as a response to the republic’s growing investments, particularly in establishing data centres within Malaysian borders.

On another matter, Bakri wanted to know the government’s plans to encourage the use of RE by local industries.

He cited how other countries in the world, such as Iceland, Norway and Sweden, had been able to do so successfully.