Amazon’s primed to rule Singapore: Bloomberg Gadfly

SINGAPORE (Dec 7): Southeast Asia is shaping up to be a fascinating retail battleground, with two distinct approaches vying for dominance.

The Chinese tech trinity of Baidu Inc., Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Tencent Holdings Ltd. are trying to gain an advantage by flexing the online payment capabilities they've honed at home. Further abroad, they're investing in everything from shopping portals such as Lazada Group SA to ride-sharing apps like Go-Jek.

Their plans to become ubiquitous in the region, however, hinge on payments. Tencent's Wechat Pay has secured an electronic-payment license in Malaysia, and while Alipay's current focus is on ensuring Chinese tourists' e-wallets are accepted by Southeast Asian merchants, it too, eventually, will want customers with local bank accounts.

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