The “David versus Goliath” in Vietnam

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Hello readers,

Ending the week with a deep dive into potentially one of the biggest mergers in Vietnam’s tech space – if it pushes through.

Tiki and Sendo are arguably the two most notable Vietnamese ecommerce startups and they are thinking of joining forces to battle regional powerhouses Shopee and Lazada.

But first, your quick bytes for the day:

1️⃣ Wish you could order food using digital currency? That might come sooner than you think as China’s central bank has plans to test its digital currency on Meituan-Dianping.

2️⃣ China’s biggest chipmaker has a great stock debut. It almost tripled its value.

3️⃣ Uber has a new president for its India and South Asia division: Prabhjeet Singh.

4️⃣ VPN providers are thinking of removing its Hong Kong servers due to the new national law.

5️⃣ Don’t be shocked when you see a kangaroo-like robot organizing the sandwiches, drinks, and ready-to-eat meals on display at a Japanese convenience store.

6️⃣ Reliance Jio has risen through the ranks to become one of the big boys, now sitting with China’s Alibaba and Tencent, according to some industry watchers.

Joining forces to go up against Shopee and Lazada?

Tiki and Sendo are two of the biggest startups in Vietnam. So betcha news of these two possibly joining forces has regional ecommerce titans on edge. 👀

Quick points to note as the two potentially unite to bring the titans down (🔒):

SoftBank’s rollercoaster ride of highs and lows