Indonesia’s ride hailing firm Gojek will be able to operate in Malaysia on a limited scale, beginning January 2020, according to a Reuters report.
On Tuesday, Malaysia’s transport minister, Anthony Loke Siew Fook, announced that ride-hailing firm Gojek and local player, Dego Ride can begin operations on a proof-of-concept basis, to measure demand for the service over a six month period.
“Bike hailing will be an important component in providing a comprehensive public transport system, as a mode for first- and last-mile connectivity,” Loke told the Malaysian parliament, as quoted in the report.
The pilot project will be limited to the Klang Valley, the most developed region in the country.
A Gojek spokesperson said that the company highly appreciates the warm support that has been extended to the company at the prospect of it starting operations in Malaysia. Gojek’s foray into Malaysia would bring more choice to customers and accelerate the growth of small businesses, the spokesperson added.
“We have had a number of really positive discussions with the government of Malaysia in this regard. Although we have not yet determined the manner in which Gojek will enter, or the exact timing, we look forward to understanding the regulatory frameworks under which the pilot will be conducted. We will now reach out to the ministry to understand the framework and to work through the details of how we might approach a launch in Malaysia. Our international expansion naturally includes carefully reviewing the local opportunities, challenges, and regulations,” a Gojek spokesperson told KrAsia, in response to the Malaysian government’s move.
According to a Jakarta Globe report on Sunday, Gojek co-CEO Andre Soelistyo revealed that Gojek would enter Malaysia and the Philippines market in 2020.
Gojek, backed by Alphabet’s Google and Chinese tech giants, Tencent and JD, had previously experienced obstacles in entering the Malaysian market. Meanwhile, Grab has been in Malaysia for sometime now.
However, a more recent report by Malaysian newspaper The Star stated that on Nov 1, the Malaysian government had announced that it would allow bike-hailing services as a means to improve the last mile connectivity for public transportation in the country.