Indonesia’s GoTo is in talks with TikTok over a potential e-commerce partnership. On Friday, the largest technology company in Indonesia, GoTo Gojek Tokopedia (GOTO.JK), announced that it was in discussions with the short video app TikTok about possibly forming an e-commerce partnership in the Southeast Asian nation.
GoTo emphasized that there was no formal agreement in a statement. The corporation also stated that the conversations did not involve any takeover strategy or sale of more than fifty percent of its shares to any third party.
As a result of Indonesia’s decision in October to prohibit online buying on social media platforms to safeguard the privacy of users and smaller merchants, TikTok was forced to shut down its e-commerce operation, which was known as TikTok Shop. The number of TikTok users in the country is 125 million.
TikTok has reportedly discussed the possibility of forming partnerships with five other firms, including GoTo, Bukalapak.com (BUKA.JK), and Blibli (BELI.JK), according to statements made by Teten Masduki, Indonesia’s minister for small and medium enterprises, to Reuters in November.
At the beginning of this week, Bloomberg reported that TikTok had reached a deal to invest in a subsidiary of GoTo. The report cited individuals who were acquainted with the subject.
According to research on Southeast Asia’s internet economy compiled by Google, Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings, and consultant Bain & Co., the e-commerce sector in Indonesia is projected to increase to around $160 billion by the year 2030, up from $62 billion this year.