ASEAN’s Digital Economy: Unleashing Hidden Potential

The Big Picture

ASEAN’s digital economy, encompassing all online commercial activities, is poised for substantial growth. According to Google and Temasek, it is projected to soar from the current $300 billion to nearly $1 trillion by 2030.

But here’s the kicker – there’s a vast trove of untapped potential lurking behind a thicket of fragmented government regulations, as the head honchos within the ASEAN secretariat reveal.

Let’s delve into the nitty-gritty
- There are different transfer data laws across ASEAN: this is costly and a bit old-school especially for small businesses as it requires set-up in each market and adds to costs, security and duplication
- Cross-border payment pipes are slow or broken: About one-third of regional firms report losing online export sales as they are unable to accept payments from foreign customers
- Paper-based trade docs: needed at each border are slow, cumbersome and bring a lot of cost to small business

The Road Ahead for ASEAN

It might be a slow gust, but the winds of change are blowing in the ASEAN digital economy. Here’s the story on the reforms ahead:

In September, ASEAN members formally launched negotiations for the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement which seeks to address many of these issues. Negotiations are set to conclude in 2025.
Having concluded the ASEAN Single Window in 2019, member nations are now on a multi-speed journey to implement. They’re also encouraging other members to join including Japan.

Australia-Singapore Digital Economy Agreement gives Australian companies an edge:

Now, for the million-dollar question, or shall we say the trillion-dollar question? Australia’s got the edge; it’s time to run with it. Australian companies have a cheeky ace up their sleeves.

With the Australia-Singapore Digital Economy Agreement in play, data can flow freely between Australia and Singapore for business purposes.
That’s a win, and here’s why: it gives Australian companies the upper hand. No more shelling out for data storage centres or relying on local computing hubs just to do business and removal of paper-based trade documents.

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This is one of a six-part series looking at the business opportunities for businesses across the Australia – Southeast Asia corridor. The insights are powered by Via Communications Group: a communications agency focused on supporting international businesses with their cross-border communications needs across Asia. You can check them out at wearevia.com