Southeast Asia’s Internet economy was growing much faster than expected due to online shopping and ride sharing, according to a report published Thursday (October 3).
Business consultant Bain & Company, Google and Singapore state group Temasek Holdings predicted the online economy in the region would expand by 39 percent to reach US$100 billion (NT$3 trillion), the Reuters news agency reported.
The annual study also raised its prediction of economic growth for the region for the period through 2025 to US$300 billion from the previous estimate of US$240 billion.
One of the main reasons was that especially younger people could afford smartphones and turned to them to conduct a lot of activities, from banking to booking tickets, according to the Reuters report.
Ride-hailing services such as Grab and Indonesia’s Gojek had quadrupled in value since 2015, and would grow further as they turned their attention to food delivery.
In just four years, the number of Internet users in the region surged from 260 million to 360 million.
Southeast Asia had also become a more attractive investment destination in the wake of the trade war between the United States and China, the report said.
