TikTok Thailand Trade: Precis

Chinese-owned video platform TikTok pledged to spend $8.8 billion in data center hosting services in Thailand over the next five years, more than doubling an earlier investment target for the Southeast Asian nation.

ByteDance Ltd.’s most valuable service is putting the infrastructure in place to support domestic users, including some 50 million on TikTok alone, Vice President of Public Policy Helena Lersch told Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra in Bangkok on Friday. She didn’t elaborate on details of the planned investment.

The pledge follows the government’s signoff on TikTok’s plan to invest $3.8 billion in the country of 70 million people. Thailand is among Southeast Asian nations drawing investment from global tech companies such as Microsoft Corp., Nvidia Corp. and Apple Inc., all seeking to tap the growth potential of the fast-digitizing region.

TikTok’s investment “is a step towards more localized and efficient operations which will enable us to serve our users and customers in Thailand and Southeast Asia more effectively,” the company said in a statement. “This development will also strengthen Thailand’s digital competitiveness and its goal of becoming a leading tech hub in Southeast Asia.”

- Bloomberg