ERIA | Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East-Asia

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

Would you like to tell us how ERIA’s work and activities specifically touch upon e-commerce and the digital economy?

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated digital transformation in ASEAN, presenting both opportunities and challenges. Through our newly established centre, ERIA Digital Innovation and Sustainable Economy Centre (E-DISC), we aim to nurture a digital environment and data governance in the region that is safe, transparent, reliable, and trustworthy. Our research confirms ASEAN’s potential to become a major player in the global digital economy while ensuring that digitalization supports sustainable and inclusive development goals.

What type of support do you offer on policy and capacity building on trade, including digital trade and e-commerce, across ASEAN and East Asia?

By facilitating collaboration, knowledge sharing, and transformative initiatives, DISC empowers businesses, policymakers, academics, and organizations to harness the power of digital technologies for sustainable economic growth, social development, and environmental stewardship. 

DISC operates under four pivotal goals:

Foster Public-Private Dialogue: DISC provides a platform for constructive public-private dialogue, aiming to facilitate the development of unified rules within the region, including common data platforms and legal systems that ensure the free flow of data and cybersecurity.

Catalyse Regional Open Innovation: As a hub for regional open innovation, DISC unites diverse stakeholders virtually and physically, including young entrepreneurs, investors, businesses, academia, and policymakers. Through collaboration, DISC accelerates digital technology-driven sustainable economies and businesses while identifying a shared policy agenda.

Nurture Technologically-Savvy Talent: DISC collaborates closely with regional universities, research institutes, and businesses to nurture a pool of technologically-savvy and business-oriented young talent. The Centre serves as a training platform for industries, offering insights on new business models, tools, and case studies, empowering industries to embrace digitalization and sustainability.

Provide Practical Policy Proposals: DISC's policy proposals are grounded in perspectives from the private sector, generating actionable recommendations that address the region's challenges and opportunities. 

According to your organization, what are the key challenges that developing countries will have to tackle in order to fully reap the benefits of e-commerce for sustainable development?

Each developing country has its own specific characteristics, especially across ASEAN which is a very diverse region economically and culturally. E-commerce represents a tremendous opportunity for many entrepreneurs (in particular MSMEs, which represent the vast majority of ASEAN firms) to grow and scale-up. ASEAN is a very dynamic region, one of the fastest growing digital economies in the world. However, many challenges still remain, including connectivity (think for instance about rural areas with limited access to digital infrastructure) and, very importantly, skills enabling MSMEs to go online (some groups of individuals such as the elderly, women and people in rural area are particularly in need of digital-related skills). Another critical factor for ASEAN countries is the development of frameworks to facilitate cross-border data flows; these should be accompanied by sound cybersecurity and personal data protection standards. As e-commerce expands across the region, we expect these issues to become increasingly relevant.

What prompted ERIA to join a multi-stakeholder partnership such as “eTrade for all” and what are your expectations out of it?

Given our longstanding analytical contribution and policy support in the area of digital trade and e-commerce to countries across ASEAN and East Asia, we believe we have a lot to contribute to the global discussion about the digital economy and digital trade, such as the one enabled through eTrade for all. We look forward to contributing to the platform by bringing our knowledge and experience and to learning from peers across different regions.

Is there something else you would like to share with the eTrade for all community?

ERIA is honored to be part of the eTrade for all community and we look forward to connecting with many different stakeholders across the globe sharing the same interests as ours towards digital trade and sustainable development.