Singapore-based ride-hailing service Grab launched a trial in Yangon on March 21, making it the first international taxi service company to operate there. The company currently operates in six other countries in Southeast Asia and would rival a number of local ride-hailing services already operating in Yangon. Grab has beaten global giant Uber to Myanmar, which said in a separate statement the same day that it planned a launch in the city “very soon.”
A small group of taxi drivers will conduct the trial run in Yangon and increase in scale gradually, Grab said in a statement.
The introduction of international ride-hailing apps comes as the government is making major changes to public transport options, especially commuter buses, as the number of cars in the country increases
There are currently more than 400,000 registered vehicles in Myanmar, the majority of them in Yangon, according to automotive consulting firm Solidiance.
