Rakuten Inc. plans to expand in India and Australia as the likelihood of slowing economic growth at home hurts demand at its online shopping malls.

"We're making very steady progress in terms of expanding our global presence," Chief Executive Officer Hiroshi Mikitani, 47, Japan's third-richest man, said Thursday in Tokyo. Japan's top Internet retailer aims to have 70 percent of sales transactions abroad by as early as 2020, he said.

The retailer in the past three years announced more than $1.6 billion worth of purchases, such as stakes in social network Pinterest and digital bookseller Kobo Inc., as part of its strategy to catch up with Amazon.com.