Much ado about the 31st ASEAN SummitThe highlight for this week was the conclusion of the 31st Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit and Related Meetings which began last week.
The two titans of ride-sharing, home-grown Grab and American import Uber, have been doing battle for a few years. They have become fierce rivals and though Grab has taken a lead in Southeast Asia, Uber will likely not go down without a fight.There’s a good reason to stay and fight. The ride-sharing market in Southeast Asia is projected to be worth 13.1 billion dollars by 2025.
Apps. They’re everywhere.They’ve permeated so many facets of our lives that we probably don’t even realise how dependent we’ve become on the dozens (or hundreds) of little icons littered across our phones and tablets.This explosion of app-dependence isn’t surprising, by any means. The Southeast Asian region is home to some of the most tech-savvy people in the world. Over half of the region’s population, 339.2 million people to be exact, are connected to the internet.
Go-Jek, Indonesia’s first billion-dollar startup, is looking to expand its ride-hailing services to three to four countries in Southeast Asia, escalating its rivalry with Grab and Uber Technologies.Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Nadiem Makarim didn’t specify the countries or services that Go-Jek will target, but said in an interview they will be places with a large population and where cash rules, hinting that Go-Jek’s digital payment service will be a key part of its push into new ma
When it comes to ride-hailing applications in Southeast Asia, Uber and Grab are just as well-known as SVoD (Subscription Video on Demand) service providers like Netflix and iflix. Apart from being at the top of their industry within the region, both sets of rivals share another thing in common, where one is a homegrown business while the other came from the US. There are many challenges faced by Uber in sustaining its application in Southeast Asia.
In Southeast Asia, mobile banking is taking on a whole new meaning. Last week, Grab, one of the region's top ride-hailing companies, announced that users of its mobile application can start sending credits – used to pay for rides – to each other. By the end of the year, they'll be able to use those credits at more than one thousand restaurants and retailers.
