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Economic ministers of the Association of South-East Asian Nations have gathered in Jakarta to begin negotiating a world-first “digital economy agreement”.
The ministers from the 11 countries of the ASEAN group – Brunei, Cambodia, Timor-Leste, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam – also settled on a framework for the ongoing negotiations, which established the objectives of the agreement, as well as the timeline for its implementation.
A previous study into what the agreement could deliver to the region picked out nine key elements to focus on, including cyber security, digital payments and IDs, cross-border data flows, and e-commerce.
According to Airlangga Hartarto, Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, the Digital Economy Framework Agreement (DEFA) negotiations should be complete by 2025 and will build a “sustainable and inclusive digital ecosystem”.
“It is an honour to experience this milestone with all of you, and I look forward to working closely with each of ASEAN member states,” Minister Hartarto said in a statement.
In his opening remarks to the negotiations, Dr Kao Kim Hourn, Secretary-General of ASEAN, said the agreement is expected to not only bring the ASEAN nations together on the matter but could also add US$2 trillion to the regional digital economy.
The first meeting of the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement Negotiating Committee is scheduled for the end of 2023, with more meetings in 2024 and 2025.
David Hollingworth has been writing about technology for over 20 years, and has worked for a range of print and online titles in his career. He is enjoying getting to grips with cyber security, especially when it lets him talk about Lego.
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