Asean’s digital economy which reached $194 billion in 2022 is now projected to rise to $330 billion by 2025.
Disclosing this at the opening of the 2023 ASEAN Investment Forum (AIF) in Jakarta on Saturday, Arsjad Rasjid, Chairman of the ASEAN-Business Advisory Council (ASEAN-BAC), said that the flow of foreign direct investments (FDIs) has also been rising in the region since the beginning of the last decade.
In 2010, FDI in Asean was only around $23 billion, but since then it has risen drastically to reach $47 billion by 2021, registering a growth of more than 100 percent.
To boost the digital economy, ASEAN-BAC has also been collaborating with all central banks of the region to develop a common QR code. This will ease inter-regional cross-border trade and cross-border digital payments.
The integration of QR codes will help visitors from any Asean country to make a digital payment in another Asean country using their own country’s QR code. For example, Cambodians visiting any of the countries in the region will be able to make payments using KHQR, the digital payment platform of the country.
Rasjid, meanwhile, also called for steps to jointly manage investment and trade in the region to create prosperity everywhere. “Asean must realise the power and investment potential and bolster its position as a global investment paradise,” Rasjid was quoted at the AIF, a side event of the upcoming 43rd ASEAN Summit, by Indonesia’s Antara news agency.
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Author: Manoj Mathew
Publication date: 4 September 2023
Source: Khmer Times
