♪ jakarta. the capital of indonesia. it's said to be the world east most congested city. although gentleman car the's population is dense, standing at

oornd 10 million, it still lacks an adequate public transport network. when traffic is gridlocked, motorbicycles are the quickest way of getting around. local residents have come to rely on them as a primary mode of transport. in fact, a new motorbike business is rapidly expanding. motorbike taxis. paying customers sit behind the driver. there are now hundreds of thousands of motorbikes taxis nationwide. the brisk expansion of the business is down to the development of a new smartphone application. using the app, customers can call a motorbike taxi with ease. it was first made available in january, 2015, gaining

widespread popularity. indonesia's first-ever online motorbike taxi service was started by a young entrepreneur. >> hello. >> medine. his innovations captured the attention of the indonesian president. in this episode of "asia insight," we follow the speedy growth of indonesia's online motorbike taxi business. this market survey company in

jakarta is under contract from overseas corporations. ava is one of the company's leading researchers. she heard about a smartphone application for hailing motorbike taxis about a year ago. since then, she regularly uses the service. a gps function identifies the nearest available motorbikes. there are about ten at the moment. eva inputs the office and destination addresses. then the fare is displayed. it's determined by distance. once the order is placed, eva receives a call from a driver. >> hello.

>> the driver arrives five minutes later. drivers of the company offer some complimentary services. a mask to cut out exhaust fumes. and a hair net for hygiene purposes because helmets are shared. eva is visiting a transport company in another part of the city. it's nearly 5:00 and the evening rush hour is about to begin. the destination is 13 kilometers away and she can't afford to be late.

40 minutes later. the fare is roughly $2. eva is able to start her meeting on time. it lasts for about one hour. she also hires a motorbike taxi for the ride home.

the indonesian economy was hit by an asian financial crisis in 1997. however, since 2000, the country has recovered enjoying stable economic growth. incomes have risen and the middle class has expanded resulting in increased in automobile ownership and ever-increasing traffic problems in jakarta. in 2003, the local authorities took action to try and address the congestion.

restricted areas were established this only gave access to vehicles carrying three or more people. this, however, only aggravated the problem, leading people to avoid restricted areas and causing worse traffic problems elsewhere. so more and more people turn to motorbike taxis instead. indonesia privately operated motorbikes taxis are known as ojek. they have no standard fares and since passengers must negotiate privately with the driver, disputes are common. nadiem spotted a business opportunity and in 2011 he

established ipd need yeah's first-ever motorbike taxi dispatch firm. he named his company gojek, a play on the word ojek. he discussed the motivation in a television interview. >> so why did you decide to start a motorbike taxi business. >> living in jakarta, i was frustrated with the constant traffic jams. with regular taxis, i was often regularly late for businesses. that's why i'm a user of motorbike taxis. however, they were also inconvenient. it was a struggle the find an available motorbike on the street. this also means that efficiency is poor for the drivers. they consider themselves lucky to pick up three or four passengers in a 14-hour shift.

that's why they try to make a lot of money off of a single ride and set high prices. >> he requires the drivers to wear helmets and jackets marked with the company logo and ensures they charge passengers according to the distance traveled. originally, customers would telephone a call center to order a taxi but this meant they had to wait for at least 20 minutes. however, he was soon able to take advantage of a major change sweeping across indonesian society. smartphones were becoming popular. in 2011, around 10 million people in indonesia owned a smartphone but by 2014, that number had risen to more than 40 million.

>> at the time, there were far more motorbike taxis than regular automobile taxis in jakarta. i thought there was huge business potential in f the drivers and the customers could be brought together. there had been dramatic growth in smartphone ownership among the general public. the middle class was growing. with more and more people beginning to buy smartphones. that is why i came up with the idea of using a smartphone application to connect available drivers with customers. i wanted to offer a service that would get them to their destinations on time. >> in january 2015, he replaced the existing call service with a smartphone application. the app was distributed for free.

and in just 18 months, it had been downloaded by more than 17 million people. at the time, the app was distributed, the company had 1,000 motorbike drivers on their books. now that number has risen to 200,000. the company has expanded beyond jakarta to service more than ten other indonesian locations. go-jek started without handful of staff but now employs 1,500. in august 2015, go-jek held a registration rally attracting 4,000 hopeful drivers.

the company checks each applicant's driving license and motorbike certification. eligible applicants begin training immediately. they're instructed on how to carry their passengers. this man is 42. anan. he's been driving a motorbike

taxi for 14 years and he registered with go-jek last year. today's a saturday and he sets out at 8:00 in the morning. his first passengers are his wife and daughters. firstly, he takes his eldest daughter to his wife's parents. then, he carries on to the nursery where his wife works. now, anan can start work in earnest.

on weekends, anan waits in residential areas. while they're on duty, the drivers are free to wait wherever they like. drivers pay 20% of their takings to the company and keep the rest. when a customer places an order, a message goes out to nearby drivers. drivers who want to take the job must reply within 15 seconds. go-jek's computer system selects one driver from those that respond. the chosen driver can then speak directly to the customer.

anan places a call. >> hello. >> five minutes later, he picks up the customer. the passenger wants to go to a sports facility. it's 10 kilometers away and the fare is 24,000 ripiahs. around $1.80. along the way, it starts to rain. anan shelters with his passenger under a shop cart.

he takes this opportunity to fill up his motorbike with gasoline. the rain shows no sign of letting up so anan decides to continue on. they arrive safely. anan contacts his company to tell them his job is complete. at 11:30, anan stops by his

house to have some lunch. anan's wife seswati. she works at the nursery in the morning and returns home before her husband to make lunch. as today's a school holiday, the whole family can eat together. anan works late most days so he is always delighted to have lunch with his loved ones.

anan's income has doubled since he became a go-jek taxi driver.

anan naps until 2:00 in the afternoon. he needs to save his energy to work until past 10:00 at night. following the success of go-jek, other domestic and overseas companies are trying to make inroads into the online motorbike taxi service. one new entrant is a u.s.-based online transportation company operating worldwide. another is based in singapore and does most of its business in southeast asia.

there are more or less than 40 motorbike taxi dispatch firms across indonesia. the young entrepreneur nadia harnessed i.t.. even media has taken an interest in his success. in august 2015, he was invited to take part in a forum attended by the indonesian president joko widodo. >> translator: in indonesia, smartphone ownership has spread very rapidly in the last few years. in fact, within five years, i think all indonesians will own a smartphone. what we now need is to build new businesses that will harness this new technology.

>> translator: i must tell you i am extremely impressed with the achievements of go-jek and i agrow that it's important to take a broad perspective to attract new investment for further development. i know that this is a very important and pressing issue for the government. and i feel it's indispensable for the development of our country. >> however, the rapid increase of online motorbike taxis represents a significant threat to existing operators. up until now, commonly used modes of transport include three-wheeled taxis known as baji. shared taxis known as oncot.

and standard automobile taxis. they're all required to get operating permits from the ministry of transportation. all of these vehicles use yellow number plates. jhonson yusup is 35. two years ago he started to drive a standard taxi.

while waiting for passengers, the taxi drivers often discuss how difficult it's become to earn a living. in december 2015, local media

reported that the minister of transportation had decided to ban online motorbike taxis. the reason given at the time was that under the current law taxis must have at least three wheels and a permit from the ministry of transportation. as online motorbike taxis do not meet these conditions, they're illegal and should be banned. the following day, president w idodo asked the minister to rescind this order. >> translator: i really don't want to make any decision that will penalize or hurt anyone. i'm aware that the public needs these motorbike taxis.

>> current law does not recognize motorbikes as a mode of public transportation. however, our public transport network is insufficient. as we are not meeting our citizens' needs, these motorbike taxis have to make up the difference. it can't be helped. we have to say, go ahead if you want to. >> translator: today the government has decided to remove the ban on online motorbike taxis. go-jek's 200,000 taxi drivers are extremely grateful for the president's decision regarding this issue. >> s the president in a post on the company's facebook page. he praised the president's decision as evidence of the victory of the democratic economy. however, the government has not yet made an official

announcement over whether the online motorbike taxis will be given official legal status. in january 2016, another online motorbike taxi business was launched. its name is ojekkoe which means my motorbike taxi. the company was founded by a former university professor and his former students. katon. they're targeting a new customer segment. the company has developed its own smartphone application.

the company currently has 700 motorbike taxi drivers and is aiming to increase that number to 5,000. the introduction of a single smartphone application has had a dramatic effect on transportation in indonesia. all eyes are on the future progress of the online motorbike taxi business.

welcome to nhk "newsline." it is thursday, june 23rd. north korea's state-run media says the country has successfully tested a ballistic missile. this was one day after they tested two missiles. the media reports say kim jong-un supervised the test. they say the missile reached an altitude of 1400 kilometers. they say it then reached the targeted area in waters some 400 kilometers away. the reports did not mention where and where the missile was