SEATTLE, WA - JUNE 16: An Amazon logo is seen inside the Amazon corporate headquarters on June 16, 2017 in Seattle, Washington. Amazon announced that it will buy Whole Foods Market, Inc. for over $13 billion.   David Ryder/Getty Images/AFP
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Can local e-commerce players compete in Southeast Asia?

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd recently announced that they will invest an additional US$2 billion into the Lazada Group. It is believed that this move by Alibaba is to counter Amazon’s plans of expanding its market to this region which has over 600 million potential customers. The American e-commerce giant officially launched a membership programme named […]

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Mekong summit sees $66B worth of projects agreed to

Six countries pledged to enact $66 billion worth of projects over the next five years at the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Summit in Hanoi on Saturday, with Cambodia-specific projects scheduled to receive the least amount of funding of any participant. Representatives from the six GMS countries – Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, China and Myanmar – […]

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Merger of Grab and Uber drive monopoly, pricing concerns

The merger between Grab and Uber is driving market concentration to monopoly levels, underlying the urgency of regulations that legalise and keep in check ride-sharing service in Thailand, say industry and research analysts. Sumet Ongkittikul, research director for transport and logistics policy at the Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI), said the consolidation of ride-hailing firms in Southeast […]

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Uber Application to be Shut Down on April 8

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – Online-based transportation service provider Uber in Southeast Asia will shut down its application following the acquisition to Grab on Monday, March 26. The acquisition of Uber and Grab would cause Uber user to no longer able accessing the application because in the next two weeks, precisely on April 8, the service will be shut down. “After […]

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Grab confirms acquisition of Uber’s operations

MANILA, Philippines — Grab Philippines on Monday confirmed that it has acquired the operations of San Francisco-based Uber in Southeast Asia. The announcement follows reports that Grab has finalized a deal with Uber, which includes the latter’s exit from Southeast Asia. “Today we announce an important milestone in the ridesharing industry — Grab has acquired […]

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Asia’s energy challenge

Asia’s rapid development over the past four decades has transformed the region’s stature in the world economy, lifting hundreds of millions of people out of poverty and creating new opportunities for future prosperity.  As the region continues its explosive growth and people continue to migrate to cities at an unprecedented rate, the challenge now is to […]

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