Indonesia's ride-hailing giant Go-Jek, through its local brand Go-Viet, on September 12 officially launched its services in Vietnam after two months of testing period in Ho Chi Minh City, local media reported.
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In the next four months, Go-Viet will focus on new services, including Go-Car, Go-Food, and Go-Pay, while other services such as Go-Beauty and Go-Clean will also be deployed in Vietnam in the future.
Nadiem Makarim, CEO and founder of Go-Jek said that after two months of trial, Go-Viet app has been downloaded 1.5 million times and accounts for 35% of market share for two-wheel ride hailing in Ho Chi Minh City.
So far, the success of Go-Viet proved that Vietnamese passengers have high demands for safer and more reliable services, while there will be more options for them to choose from, Makarim added.
In May, Go-Jek announced its decision to invest about US$500 million to move into four new markets in Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines.
The company is expected to provide technological support and expertise to local founding teams in each of the four markets, while those local companies would determine their own brands and identities.
The company's services are used in 50 cities across Indonesia and it is backed by well-known investors like Singapore's Temasek Holdings and Chinese tech giant Tencent.
Go-Viet is expected to be a direct competitor to Grab, which has raised concern over its alleged dominance in Southeast Asia's ride-hailing market following its acquisition of Uber's operation in the region on March 26.
Tan Hooi Ling, Grab's co-founder, in a meeting with the press on September 11 stated she expected more competitors in the market, adding only by competing with others can Grab improve and serve customers better.
Vietnam's ride-hailing market with high dynamism has been growing at a rapid rate, for which plans should be made in month and not year, Ling added.
Recently, Grab has made a strategic investment in Vietnamese mobile payment startup Moca, aiming to further strengthen its grip in the digital payment sector in the region.
