Public Seed Funding of 19.6 Billion Won Spurs 150 Billion Won in AI Data Center Contracts in Indonesia

KIND Leads with Initial Equity Investment
Private Funds and LG Affiliates Join, Marking South Korea's Entry into Overseas Data Centers

South Korean companies secured contracts worth $107 million (approximately 149.8 billion won) for an artificial intelligence (AI) data center project in Jakarta, Indonesia, pursued in cooperation with the Korea Overseas Infrastructure & Urban Development Corporation (KIND), a public institution specializing in overseas investment under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. This marks the first time South Korean companies have entered the overseas commercial data center market.

According to KIND on October 23, the data center to be built in Jakarta will have one basement level and 11 floors above ground. Its total floor area will be 49,000 square meters, and the project will cost $320 million (approximately 448 billion won).

A data center is a dedicated building where large numbers of computer servers are housed to store and process vast amounts of data. The facility being built for this project is an "AI-ready data center," designed to handle AI workloads that require more computing power than those handled by conventional data centers.

In this project, the public institution KIND invested in the project, while South Korean private-sector companies took part in every stage, from construction and supplying key components to managing the facility after its completion.

The project sponsors include South Korean investors KIND, Plus Inni IDC Fund, and S Fund, as well as SM+, an affiliate of Indonesian conglomerate Sinar Mas Group.

KIND invested $14 million (approximately 19.6 billion won) in equity using policy funds, serving as a catalyst for the project. With KIND's participation, South Korean entities secured a total of $37 million (approximately 51.8 billion won) in investment-related contracts.

Affiliates of LG Group took part in interior construction, component supply, and future operations. Data centers use large amounts of electricity and generate heat as numerous computers run simultaneously. Cooling systems to dissipate heat and emergency power systems to guard against outages are considered key equipment for ensuring stable operation.

LG CNS secured contracts worth $64 million (approximately 89.6 billion won) for installing the building's mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems, and $6 million (approximately 8.4 billion won) for managing and operating the facility after completion, for a total of at least $70 million (approximately 98 billion won). LG Electronics will supply the cooling and air-conditioning systems that dissipate heat from the data center. LG Energy Solution will supply emergency batteries, or uninterruptible power supply systems, that keep electricity flowing to the servers during power outages.

The contracts mark an on-the-ground realization of the package-based overseas expansion model that the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and KIND have pursued through the AIDC Construction Industry Revitalization Forum, which brings together around 80 institutions from academia, industry, research, and government. The ministry previously launched the forum to develop data centers into a new growth area for the construction industry, and has worked to identify policy tasks related to manufacturing and construction, operations and maintenance, overseas expansion, and financial support.

KIND said it would use this project to expand its investment portfolio into high-value-added digital infrastructure and continue identifying overseas investment opportunities linked to emerging industries such as AI and big data. Building on this case, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport plans to continue providing support on multiple fronts, including institutional improvements and financial assistance, so that successful overseas expansion in high-value-added fields such as AI data centers can spread among the government, public institutions, and businesses.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.