Indonesia's Go-Jek launched a trial version of its ride-hailing taxi app in Singapore on 29 November, ahead of a full entry planned early next year, as it aims to challenge the Southeast Asian market leader Grab.

Drivers of Indonesia’s ride-hailing service provider Go-Jek (Photo: AFP/VNA)

Go-Jek's beta app is now available for download to a limited number of customers and will only cover a designated part of the city-state. Beta versions are used to test and gain feedback from a restricted number of users before full service begins.

Utilised via smartphones, Go-Jek offers users a fleet of motorcycle taxis, private cars, and other services from massage and house cleaning to grocery shopping and food delivery. However for its first steps into Singapore, it will only provide car taxis.

Go-Jek is in the middle of a 500 million USD expansion plan beyond its Indonesian base with a focus on Southeast Asia, and has recently introduced services in Vietnam and Thailand.

The firm has won financial backing from investors including Google, Singapore's sovereign wealth fund Temasek, and Chinese internet giant Tencent.

The Singaporean market has been dominated by homegrown tech firm Grab since it bought US-based rival Uber's ride hailing and food business in Southeast Asia earlier this year.

According to research by Google and Temasek, the ride-hailing market in Southeast Asia is expected to reach 20 billion USD by 2025.

(Source: VNA)