Jakarta, 23 June 2023: ERIA and Indonesia's Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs held a discussion meeting on the ASEAN Digital Community 2045. The meeting was hosted by Dr Edi Prio Pambudi, Deputy for Coordination of International Economic Cooperation at the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs, and his team.

Dr Lili Yan Ing, ERIA's Lead Advisor for Southeast Asia Region, along with Iman Pambagyo, former Director General of International Trade Negotiations at Indonesia's Ministry of Trade, provided insights on the urgency of establishing the ASEAN Digital Community 2045. ERIA Trade Specialist Dr Yessi Vadila, and Research Associate Livia Feliciani Nazara, were also in attendance.

The meeting focused on high-level conversations on the key challenges of ASEAN’s digital trade, including privacy and cybersecurity regulations, competition, and the digital divide. When considering the ASEAN Digital Community 2045 vision, it is crucial for ASEAN to go beyond physical, institutional, and people-to-people connections.

Moving forward to address key challenges, the ASEAN Digital Community 2045 will focus on four pillars: enhancing value added, regulatory transformation and digital economy governance, digital and physical connectivity, and digital inclusivity.