Digital Transformation for a Sustainable ASEAN Community
Embracing the opportunities of the digital age will help the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) become a model for global digital transformation. Digital transformation is also a strategy for building a sustainable ASEAN Community, which will be politically cohesive, economically interconnected, and socially responsible, ensuring the maintenance of Asia's dynamic center.
ASEAN is currently one of the fastest-growing digital economies in the world, with a total transaction value of 218 billion US dollars in 2023. The size of the digital economy in the region is expected to reach 600 billion US dollars by 2030, with a compound annual growth rate of 16%.
Digital transformation efforts are helping Southeast Asian countries expand trade and strengthen economic cooperation. When the regional cross-border payment system, currently being implemented in five countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, and Singapore), is expanded to cover all 10 members, it will help strengthen financial integration among participating countries, bringing ASEAN closer to its goal of economic integration.
Easy and fast payments can boost trade and tourism within ASEAN. According to Nico Han, a Southeast Asia analyst at The Diplomat, a unified cross-border digital payment system will promote regional consciousness and ASEAN's central role in international governance.
ASEAN has over 400 million digital consumers, a growing tech-savvy population, and an e-commerce sector that generated over 100 billion US dollars in 2023, an eight-fold increase from 2016. According to a report by Statista, a German market research firm, ASEAN is forecast to achieve a compound annual growth rate of up to 11.43% over the next five years, comparable to developed countries like the US, China, and Canada. The region's e-commerce revenue could reach 175 billion US dollars by 2027. There are currently over 7,000 digital startups in the region, 80% of which are based in Indonesia, Singapore and Vietnam.
At a discussion with ASEAN businesses and partners with the theme "Towards a cohesive, resilient and sustainable ASEAN business community: Seizing opportunities in the digital age," Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh proposed three key breakthroughs to make ASEAN a model for global digital transformation. They include promoting equal access to digital transformation and the digital economy with the principle of "harmonious interests and shared risks"; strongly promoting ASEAN's self-reliance, and self-mastery in digital transformation; and promoting a global, whole-of-society, whole-ofsystem approach to ASEAN's digital economic development.
According to HSBC, in ASEAN, Vietnam has been the fastest-growing digital economy in 2022 and 2023, and is expected to maintain this position until 2025. Vietnam's digital economy is currently led by e-commerce, online tourism, and digital media. With a projected 67.3 million smartphone users by 2026, accounting for 96.9% of internet users, Vietnam has become an attractive market for the digital industry and for both domestic and foreign businesses operating in the sector.
ASEAN is currently negotiating a framework agreement on digitalizing the region's economy, which is expected to be finalized in 2025. This will be a solid foundation for promoting digital economic cooperation within the association, particularly in developing the information and communications technology sector; promoting the digitization of industries and sectors in conjunction with the application of science and technology, innovation and enhancing digital governance capacity to develop digital data.
Digital transformation is not just about technology, but a deep change that is global, whole-of-society, and whole-of-system. ASEAN leaders affirm the pioneering role of the ASEAN business community and partner countries in digital transformation, in order to contribute significantly to the rapid, sustainable, and inclusive development of each ASEAN member country, the region and the world./.
- Story: VNP
- Photos: VNA
- Designed by Trang Nhung
- Translated by Hong Hanh