Digital trade in Asia

Abstract

Digital trade has become a major driver of economic development by enhancing productivity and lowering costs of trade in goods. While digital trade promises new opportunities for individuals and firms of all sizes, it also raises new challenges. Policymakers and business leaders need to better understand the drivers of this paradigm for trade and find solutions for potential issues in dialogue with stakeholders so as to ensure digital trade policies that are more sustainable and inclusive for all. This paper addresses emerging topics, with limited existing regulations in place and with clear challenges ahead in designing effective and appropriate policy responses that effectively address each topic. The risks of incompatible policy frameworks across the Asia-Pacific region cannot be discounted. Such regulatory fragmentation could destroy the promise of the digital economy and make it significantly harder for large and small firms across the region to participate in digital trade in the future.