No retreat, no surrender: Uber insists on joining Singapore's ride-hailing fray

Its head in Asia said it wants to offer faster booking and cheaper rides.

Deal Street Asia reported that Uber is looking to gain share in Singapore by offering faster booking and cheaper rides.

In an interview, Brooks Entwistle, head of Uber's business in Asia, said despite recent speculation that Uber may withdraw from the region after SoftBank Group Corp.’s investment in the company, he said that’s simply not the plan.

“I have been given absolute instructions to run and grow the business,” said the 50-year-old, who was previously chairman for Southeast Asia at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. “That’s what I’m doing, and that’s what I’m going to do.’’

Japan will be a major focus for Uber in 2018, he said. It’s one of the largest taxi markets in the world and one Uber has so far failed to crack. Entwistle said Uber is in early talks with several taxi companies in the country, and he expects to strike more than one partnership there. The US company is also in discussions with payments firms across Asia to ink partnerships similar to its tie-up with Vietnamese mobile wallet company MoMo.

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