Reuters/Carlos Barria
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Incoming US President Donald Trump and Hussain Sajwani, the billionaire chairman of Damac Properties, announced on Tuesday that the emirati will invest “at least” $20 billion in data centres across the US.
The move represents the official entry of EDGNEX, Damac’s specialized subsidiary, into the American market as demand for cloud computing and artificial intelligence – and the supporting infrastructure – grows rapidly around the world.
Last month EDGNEX announced it was to put $3 billion into data centres in Southeast Asia.
Trump called Sajwani’s involvement an “honour” during a press conference at his Florida residence of Mar-a-Lago. He said the money would help “keep America on the cutting edge of technology and artificial intelligence.”
Initially, the investment will target data centres in Texas, Arizona, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Ohio, Illinois, Michigan and Indiana, said the president-elect, who will be formally inaugurated on January 20 for a second term in the White House.
Trump boasted that Sajwani may even “go double, or even somewhat more than double,” the $20 billion, though the Damac chairman noted that the injection of any additional funds would depend on market conditions.
“It’s been amazing news for me and my family when he was elected in November,” Sajwani said, while speaking at Tuesday’s press conference.
“We’ve been waiting four years to increase our investment in the US to very large amounts of money.”
The Damac and Trump brands have a history of working together in the UAE. At the end of last year the developer secured the rights to build a new Trump Tower in Abu Dhabi.
Damac also developed the Trump International Golf Club in Dubai and Trump-branded villas at the emirate’s Damac Hills community.
