This weekly newsletter chronicles top digital themes and trends playing out in SE Asia, especially Indonesia. We will decode policy and regulatory changes affecting digital economy sectors, crunch earnings data of top players, track developments related to gig economy workers and attempt to piece together ecosystem buildouts in some of the fastest-growing, venture-backed plays. You can access the previous editions of the Vantage Point weekly posts here.
Executive Summary
- Garena’s India re-entry set to be a rapid-fire success
- Shopee Indonesia seeks to woo government with local push
- The digital banks leading the charge in Indonesia
Garena’s India re-entry set to be a rapid-fire success
The ban on Free Fire in India in February 2022 was seen as an outlandish move by the Indian government to prevent alleged Chinese back-door intelligence gathering and a threat to national security.
The backdrop to the accusations was that Tencent was a shareholder in Sea, even though it held a minority stake without any involvement in the day-to-day workings of Garena. Tencent has since reduced its stake in the Southeast Asian firm and swapped its preferential voting share for ordinary shares, further reducing its influence.
Although there has been no official announcement from the Indian government regarding a withdrawal of the ban, Garena is reportedly relaunching Free Fire in India in partnership with Yotta Infrastructure Solutions for cloud and other storage needs of local users’ data in the country.
This presumably appeases the government’s concerns over “Chinese infiltration” given that Yotta Infrastructure Solutions has a strong reputation locally in India for data protection as the country’s largest data centre operator. Yotta is controlled by leading property development company Hiranandani Group.
Moreover, former Indian cricket team captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been appointed as the new brand ambassador of Free Fire India. Given the popularity of cricket in the country, this should have quite a positive impact.
Garena has also localised Free Fire for the Indian market by incorporating unique local content, as it has done in other markets, but this is probably also designed to distance itself from its previous incarnation. It will be launched under the name Free Fire India underlining its local slant.
