JAKARTA, June 15 (Reuters) - Short video app TikTok, owned by China's ByteDance, said on Thursday it would invest billions of dollars in Southeast Asia over the next few years, as it doubles down on the region amid intensifying global scrutiny over its data security.
Southeast Asia, a region with a collective population of 630 million - half of them under 30 - is one of TikTok's biggest markets in terms of user numbers.
"We're going to invest billions of dollars in Indonesia and Southeast Asia over the next few years," TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew said at a forum it organised in Jakarta to highlight the social and economic impact of the app in the region.
Chew said TikTok has 8,000 employees in Southeast Asia, and 2 million small vendors selling their wares on its platform in Indonesia, the region's biggest economy.
The app has not faced major bans on government devices in Southeast Asia, but it has been under scrutiny over its content.
Persons:
China's ByteDance, Shou Zi Chew, Chew, TikTok, Stanley Widanto, Miyoung Kim, Christopher Cushing, Jamie Freed
Organizations:
HK, Thomson
Locations:
JAKARTA, Southeast Asia, Sea's, Indonesia, Jakarta, Beijing, Britain, New Zealand, Vietnam