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WhatsApp appoints ex-GoPlay boss as its first head in Indonesia
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Calvin Kizana, head of WhatsApp Indonesia (WhatsApp/-)
W
hatsApp has introduced Calvin Kizana as its first head in Indonesia. The appointment reflects the growing importance the messaging firm attributes to the country's market.
Prior to joining WhatsApp, Calvin served as chief operating officer at GoPlay, a live-streaming leg of Gojek. He also founded two start-ups namely Playday, a live-streaming platform, and PicMix, a social media platform.
“WhatsApp connects people here — friends, family and communities and we want to make it easy for businesses to connect. This is a great opportunity for me to work on a product that touches the lives of many people across Indonesia and I can't wait to get started," Calvin said in a press release published by WhatsApp on Monday.
Business messaging is a key area of investment for WhatsApp, the company stated in the release, with seven of 10 Indonesians saying they prefer to message rather than phone or email a business.
Calvin explained he would focus on strengthening WhatsApp's local partnerships in Indonesia and expanding the use of the WhatsApp Business platform to help people discover, message and engage with businesses within the app.
WhatsApp claimed that, over the past few years, it had made significant investments in Indonesia in the areas of health, digital literacy, small business training and community building.
Its partnership with the Communications and Information Ministry on digital literacy has reached more than 2.4 million people in 34 provinces.
