The digital arm of Chinese internet search and maps provider Baidu has developed an online platform to help app developers in Indonesia expand locally as well as into international markets.

Baidu Digital Indonesia said the platform is being launched in two phases, the Jakarta Globe reported. The ‘Grow Local’ phase aims to develop Indonesia’s digital industry by promoting Indonesian apps on the platform. The second ‘Go Global’ phase will showcase local apps for the international market.

Baidu Digital Indonesia director Bao Jianlei said its target is to have about 300 Indonesian startups on the platform by next year. He told the Globe that Baidu is not only expanding into Indonesia but is also working to create opportunities for local players to enter the Chinese market.

Iwan Setiawan, Baidu Digital Indonesia’s marketing manager, said many local firms don’t know how to promote their apps and don’t have the resources to do so. He said Baidu plans to invest over the long term to expand the country’s digital ecosystem.

Less than a quarter of the country’s mobile subscribers have mobile broadband service and about a third have smartphones, according to GSMA Intelligence.

Smartphone shipments in the country increased 30 per cent in Q2 from a year ago. The country of 254 million is now the third largest smartphone market in Asia behind China and India.