Budget e-commerce platform Temu enters Vietnam, Brunei after Indonesia ban

Chinese discount shopping site Temu has entered Vietnam and Brunei after facing a ban in Indonesia.

But its entry into Vietnam was rushed, seeing as the Temu website in the country was initially only available in English.

It also only accepts payments through credit cards and Google Pay, and no local digital wallets.

The platform said shipping to Vietnam takes four to seven days, much faster than the five to 20 days for Malaysia or the Philippines, according to Singapore-based research firm Momentum Works.

Meanwhile, Temu’s Brunei site is available in both English and that country’s official Malay language.

Vietnam was the fastest-growing e-commerce market in Southeast Asia with a 53% year-on-year growth in gross merchandise value last year while Brunei has one of the world’s highest standards of living.

The move to expand into these two Southeast Asian countries came after the site was banned from operating in Indonesia earlier this month.

Budi Arie Setiadi, the country’s Minister of Communications and Informatics, said on Oct. 1 that the ban is in place to protect local micro, small and medium enterprises from being disrupted, as quoted by CNA.

Indonesia has also requested Google and Apple to block Temu from their Indonesia app stores to prevent it from being downloaded, Reuters reported.

The country’s e-commerce industry is projected to grow from US$62 billion in 2023 to approximately US$160 billion by 2030, according to a report by Google, Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings and consultancy Bain & Co.

Based in Boston, Massachusetts, Temu is an online marketplace offering a variety of products at heavily discounted prices. It is owned by Chinese e-commerce giant PDD Holdings and currently operates in over 80 countries and territories.