Indonesia's Go-Jek going into Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines

[SINGAPORE] INDONESIA's ride-hailing startup Go-Jek is making its first move outside its home base, announcing on Thursday that it will invest about US$500 million to spread into four new markets in the next four months - Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines.

This will bring it up against Singapore-based Grab, which already operates in Indonesia, South-east Asia's largest ride-hailing market, and is fresh from its takeover of Uber's ride-hailing business in the region.

In Singapore, Go-Jek will be the biggest by far of several new players - like India's Jugnoo, Malaysia's DacSee and blockchain application MVL - who are poised to enter the market here following Uber's retreat.