A proposed large-scale data center in Laguna emerged as one of the concrete investment leads discussed by Philippine officials during recent meetings in the United Arab Emirates, alongside parallel talks on renewable energy development.
Trade Secretary Cristina Roque said Dubai-based Damac Digital, led by founder and chair Hussein Sajwani, was studying Laguna as the possible location for a 250-megawatt facility. If pursued, the project would be promoted by the Marcos administration as the biggest data center development in the country to date.
The planned Philippine site would mark Damac Digital’s third data center in Asia, following its projects in Thailand and Indonesia, and its fourth outside the Middle East, where it already operates a facility in Spain. The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said discussions with the firm were still at the incorporation stage.
Parallel to the digital infrastructure talks, Philippine officials also engaged Abu Dhabi Future Energy Co., better known as Masdar, on potential clean energy investments. Roque said Masdar had indicated interest in setting up renewable energy operations in the Philippines, with the company currently evaluating three possible locations in Bohol.
During the visit, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Roque met with Masdar chief executive officer Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi and Fatima Al Suwaidi, the company’s head of development and investment for Asia-Pacific, to explore collaboration in renewable energy projects. Roque said Masdar was considering a “large-scale renewable energy development project” in the country.
She noted that the company was open to different roles in the project, including financing, management, or operations, while it continues to look for additional partners before making a firm investment decision.
“They’re flexible with anything, as long as they can enter—because the market in the Philippines is so huge, and renewable energy is really just getting started [here],” Roque told reporters.
The latest discussions follow a $15-billion commitment secured in early 2025, under which Masdar agreed to develop up to 1 gigawatt of clean energy capacity in the Philippines by 2030, with an option to scale the program to as much as 10 gigawatts, largely through solar and wind projects.
The investment talks took place during the Philippine delegation’s Jan. 12–14 visit to the UAE, when the two countries also signed the Philippines-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement and a separate memorandum of understanding on defense cooperation.
