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Uber says it wants to expand into Asia and casts favorable glances towards Tokyo


Skift Take

Tokyo's taxi system is one of the best in the world and user engagement with smartphones is just as good. It's doubtful Tokyo needs a brash American to teach them how to combine the two.

Earlier today, amidst the breaking news that the California Public Utilities Commission had issued a series of citations and fines to a gaggle of transportation apps including Uber, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick also took the stage here to make the case for the black car and taxi dispatch app’s Asian ambitions.

Spending the last part of his talk trying to recruit a team of twenty “very smart [Tokyo-based] people” for Uber Tokyo, Kalanick revealed that the city was likely in the crosshairs for Uber’s first Asian launch. The launch could take place in as little as three weeks if timing was right, he said onstage.

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