TikTok to Invest Billions of Dollars in Southeast Asia to Boost E-Commerce Business

TikTok to Invest Billions of Dollars in Southeast Asia to Boost E-Commerce Business
TikTok Chief Executive Officer Shou Zi Chew delivers his speech during the launch of TikTok Socio-Economic Impact Report 2023 event at The Ritz Carlton, Pacific Place in Jakarta, Indonesia, on June 15, 2023. Ajeng Dinar Ulfiana/Reuters
Reuters
Updated:
0:00

JAKARTA—Short video app TikTok, owned by China’s ByteDance, said on Thursday it would invest billions of dollars in Southeast Asia over the next few years, as it doubles down on the region amid intensifying global scrutiny over its data security.

Southeast Asia, a region with a collective population of 630 million—half of them under 30—is one of TikTok’s biggest markets in terms of user numbers, generating more than 325 million visitors to the app every month.