Illustrative photo (Photo: ASEAN SAS) Singapore (VNA) – SingaporeanMinister for Communications and Information S Iswaran has called on ASEANmember nations to deepen regional digital connectivity in order to position theregion for the growing opportunities in innovation and the digital economy, andto be better prepared to meet future challenges.
Addressing the recent Digitise ASEANConference in Singapore, S Iswaran said in ASEAN, some estimate that the digitaleconomy has the potential to grow to 200 billion USD by 2025, with e-commercealone accounting for 88 billion USD.
A survey conducted by the Singapore BusinessFederation (SBF) on ASEAN outlook in 2017-2018 showed that most of thequestioned enterprises affirmed ASEAN as an important market in their businessexpansion strategies in 2018 and 2019.
They said they would prioritise Indonesia,Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand and Myanmar to expand their business activities in2018-2020.
S Iswaran said ASEAN must first address thechallenges posed by the digital economy, while handling issues that constrainbusinesses’ ability to participate in the digital economy, including policiesrelating to data flows and localisation, intellectual property, cyber security,and digital trade facilitation.
As the ASEAN Chair in 2018, Singapore isworking with other ASEAN member states on specific initiatives such as theASEAN Agreement on e-Commerce that advances trade rules in e-commerce, lowersbusinesses’ operating barriers to entry, and builds up greater digitalconnectivity, to facilitate e-commerce flows in the region.
This will provide a platform for aspiringentrepreneurs, start-ups and micro, small and medium-sized enterprises tomarket their products and services regionally, he said.
The minister highlighted three areas ofopportunity for ASEAN businesses, comprising business-to-consumer or B2Cthrough e-commerce platforms; supporting services such as payments, insurance,logistics, fraud detection, marketing and customer service; and infrastructurelike e-commerce and data centres.
ASEANgroups Brunei, Cambodia,Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand andVietnam.-VNA
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