Will TikTok’s deal with Indonesian e-commerce giant Tokopedia set precedent to make allies out of enemies?
- GoTo CEO Patrick Walujo says the TikTok-Tokopedia deal makes sense for the company’s future growth
- TikTok’s experience in Indonesia could be a guide in its dealings with authorities from other regional countries, analysts say
It made sense for Tokopedia, GoTo Chief Executive Officer Patrick Walujo said, as the e-commerce platform was burning cash and had seen transaction volumes decline by more than 25 per cent at the start of last year.
It needed the injection of cash for it to keep growing in a challenging market, Walujo said in an interview with This Week in Asia.
Walujo, one of the first investors in Gojek, the ride-hailing and on-demand service that is the other part of GoTo, has every reason to be upbeat after winning what he describes as a “beauty contest”, with his company not initially in the running with other competitors vying for the TikTok deal.
The sale has stirred concerns about foreign ownership of big companies in Indonesia, a suggestion Walujo shrugged off as unwarranted, as he expressed confidence it would enable Tokopedia to chart future growth and make a greater impact rather than wither away into irrelevance.
