FastGo plans to introduce its services in big cities in Myanmar and is targeting two million users and 100,000 drivers within its first year of operations. In addition, it will invest and call for investments to develop new services in the market, according to Vietnam News.

The Vietnamese firm in November 2018 signed an MOU with Myanmar conglomerate Asia Sun Group to launch its ride-hailing app in the country, where it is also exploring potential expansion into e-commerce and tourism, Nguyen Huu Tuat, director of FastGo, said at the firm’s launch ceremony on December 28, 2018.

FastGo plans to maintain its competitive advantage by not increasing fares during peak hours or adverse weather conditions. 

It will also cooperate with telecommunications operator Mytel to provide telecoms and data services as well as insurance to its customers in Myanmar. MyTel is Myanmar’s fourth telco and is backed by Vietnam’s military-linked Viettel Group.

In Myanmar, FastGo will compete for market share with Malaysia’s Grab, which is currently the only foreign-owned ride-hailing company in the country after US-based rival Uber pulled out of Southeast Asia last year. Grab is the largest ride hailing service in Myanmar and it has already expanded to other cities besides Yangon. 

FastGo will also be up against local ride hailing companies like Oway Ride, OK Taxi and GetRide. 

“People have become accustomed to using Grab in Myanmar and it has become an established brand. However, it is becoming more difficult for Grab to attract more drivers even though they have a lot of riders because the local operators are now upping their game,” said U Aung Myint, operations head of 2.0 Co Ltd, the company behind OK Taxi.

OK Taxi, for example, operates without collecting a commission from its drivers. The service, which launched in the middle of last year, says it intends to earn revenue from advertising. The local app now has a market share of 30 percent in Myanmar, according to its officials.

Another local operator, GetRide, which launched last January and initially did not collect a percentage of fares from its drivers, has announced that it will begin collecting up to 7pc starting in April.

‘’As we are a local company, we face many challenges competing against foreign companies, but we are finding our own space to compete. We focus on giving both drivers and passengers incentives to use our app. Now, we are the second largest app after Grab,” said U Aung Myat Min, customer care supervisor for GetRide. 

Other ride-hailing apps have not fared as well, though. Hello Cabs, which buckled under competitive pressure last year, is one example. Meanwhile, Oway Ride has not made big inroads in Yangon due to competition from Grab. 

Whatever the case, FastGo’s entry into Myanmar is viewed as a net positive for the market.  

“I want another foreign ride hailing company to come to Myanmar market so that Grab will not monopolise the market. The competition will hopefully make their services improve,” said Ma Hnin Si from Thuwana Township.

“We welcome FastGo and its investment in Myanmar. Its presence also makes the market more dynamic, even though, in my opinion, it will not be an easy market to compete in,” said U Aung Myint.

Source: https://www.mmtimes.com/news/vietnamese-firm-launches-ride-hailing-app-myanmar.html