Peter Oey on emerging markets
From How Grab Became Southeast Asia's Everything App (Ft. Grab CFO Peter Oey) · · Brew Markets
“Half of the population of Southeast Asians are under the age of 30. So they're very young. A lot of them grew up with smartphones. They completely missed the web. And now they're actually riding on the coachella of AI also. So it's fastly changing, fastly growing, big middle income bracket also. So it's a big opportunity.”
On , Peter Oey, Chief Financial Officer & Director at Grab Holdings, spoke about emerging markets during How Grab Became Southeast Asia's Everything App (Ft. Grab CFO Peter Oey) on Brew Markets.
About Peter Oey
Peter Oey, chief financial officer of Grab, stated in a May 2026 interview that rising fuel prices from the Iran conflict had not affected demand, citing robust growth in April with an all-time high in delivery transactions. He said Grab was on track to break even in its financial services business by the end of 2026, noting that the company's gross loan portfolio reached $1.4 billion and loan disbursements exceeded $1 billion in the first quarter. Oey also discussed the company's investment in AI infrastructure, describing it as a "conscious decision" to build a tokenization stack and cloud capacity. Oey described Southeast Asia as a "big opportunity" due to a young, mobile-first population and a growing middle-income bracket. He noted that Grab generated $15 billion for drivers and merchants in the previous year and emphasized the company's role in providing credit to those without access to traditional banking. Oey also highlighted a $400 million accelerated share repurchase program, calling it a reflection of Grab's conviction in its long-term value. He stated that Grab was preparing for the potential deployment of autonomous vehicles in the region through partnerships and investments, while continuing to focus on product expansion and affordability.