TikTok looks to Southeast Asia to drive growth

Far from the skeptical looks in the US, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew was warmly welcomed and drew a large crowd at an event in Indonesia in the middle of this month.

tiktok direction southeast a to wake up growth image 1 — CEO Shou Zi Chew announced that TikTok will invest $10 billion in Indonesia over the next five years. Photo: Reuters

Dressed in a traditional Indonesian batik shirt, amid flashing disco lights and pulsating music , he announced to cheers from officials and fans that TikTok would “invest billions of dollars” in Southeast Asia.

He added that Indonesia alone would receive $10 billion in investment over the next five years, a celebration that was in stark contrast to what he faced in March last year in the United States.

Political backlash and efforts to ban TikTok in the US partly explain the platform's shift to Southeast Asia, whose population of nearly 700 million has become crucial to its future success.

ByteDance, TikTok's parent company, also wants to demonstrate its $300 billion valuation, making it the world's most valuable private startup, ahead of an expected initial public offering in the next two years.

This makes finding revenue in Southeast Asia crucial to their future.

But even in Asia, ByteDance is facing scrutiny. Southeast Asian authorities have criticized content on its platform this year. TikTok has also been banned in India, another huge market.

“Legal risks are not limited to the US or Europe,” warned Jianggan Li, chief executive of research firm Momentum Works.

Mai Anh (according to FT)

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