Go-Jek will start by launching their transportation and payments services in its international debut

Ajey Gore, CTO of Indonesia-based ride-hailing giant Go-Jek, announced that the company is going to set up operations in the Philippines in 2018, according to a Reuters report.

Marking its debut in the international market, the CTO said that Go-Jek is targetting “almost all” Southeast Asian markets within the next three to six months, with the Philippines as a start.

However, he declined to give further details of their next target market after the country.

Go-Jek will begin by launching its transportation and then payments services in the new market with the goal to “learn form mistakes.”

Prior to the launch, Go-Jek has made several acquisitions of local startups in India, from mobile app developer LeftShift, tech consultancies C42 Engineering and CodeIgnition, to home healthcare services marketplace Pianta.

Also Read: Indonesia is one year away from seeing e-wallets everywhere: Go-Jek CEO

It has also been reported to invest in Bangladeshi motorbike-based ride-hailing and logistics startup Pathaos, and has opened a data science office in Singapore in June.

In the Philippines, Go-Jek will face several challenges including regulatory hurdles.

The government has been stepping up effort to crack down ride-hailing services. In November, local startup Angkas, which offers similar service as motorbike-based Go-Jek, had to shut down services following the arrest of 19 riders in Manila.

The authority cited “lack of permit” as the reason behind the take-down.

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