After Uber exits, Indonesia’s Go-Jek is now live in Vietnam

Since Uber left Southeast Asia six months ago, Grab (the company that bought over Uber's businesses in the region) has been touted as the region's ride-hailing king. But now it has a rival.

Go-Jek, an Indonesia-based ride-hailing firm, has taken the first step out of its home country to launch operations in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi. Go-Viet, which launched Wednesday, is described as an "on-demand multi-service platform" that gives users access to its bike-sharing and courier services.

This follows a soft launch in Ho Chi Minh City six weeks ago. The launch saw 1.5 million downloads, but not all of Go-Viet's services were made available immediately.

Vietnam is the first stage of the international rollout that Go-Jek first announced in May. The company plans to invest $500 million into the



expansion, with Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines expected to come next, although no timeline has been given.

The company says it intends to add more services to Go-Viet including car-sharing, food delivery and digital payment.

"We are proud to share our uniquely Indonesian technology and to see people in other countries benefit from it through increased efficiency in urban mobility and most importantly, though improved overall welfare," said Nadiem Makarim, Go-Jek's founder and CEO.

"The success we've seen so far proves Vietnam is in need of more safe, reliable and convenient services. Consumers need more choice and the market needs more competition to allow the industry to grow sustainably," he added.

Go-Jek declined a request for further comment.