What’s at stake for ASEAN’s DEFA?
“The integrated intraregional market is critical for ASEAN in many ways. At the outset, it is important for the region’s exports of goods and services. Some 23% of ASEAN merchandise exports go to the intra-regional market. For Brunei this is 67%, for Malaysia and Singapore, over 40%, for Thailand 33% and for Indonesia 26%. In digital services, some 12% of ASEAN digital services exports were destined to the intra-regional market, more than those that were exported to the US.”
“If the DEFA were to promote ASEAN trade as much as some econometric analyses promise, it would also amplify the role of digital services in ASEAN economies from the current 7% of gross domestic product to 16.3%. But to do this, DEFA would need to help solve several policy challenges.”
“First, according to UNCTAD’s Trade Analysis Information System (TRAINS) database, ASEAN economies have since 2015 put in place no fewer than 9,873 non-tariff measures that have undercut the regional value chains and created obstacles to regional trade in a host of products. These have been paralleled by digital policies that restrict digital trade in the region. According to the Digital Policy Alert, ASEAN has adopted some 333 laws and orders related to data governance, consumer protection, content moderation taxation, licensing, and more, over the past five years.”
https://www.hinrichfoundation.com/research/wp/ftas/what-at-stake-for-asean-defa/