ASEAN-China Belt and Road Business Forum: the first E-Commerce Cooperation Dialogue

REMARKS BY AMBASSADOR TAN HUNG SENG SINGAPORE PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE TO ASEAN AT THE ASEAN-CHINA BELT AND ROAD BUSINESS FORUM: THE FIRST E-COMMERCE COOPERATION DIALOGUE 
WEDNESDAY, 16 MAY 2018

His Excellency Huang Xilian, Ambassador of China to ASEAN
Her Excellency Yang Xiuping, Secretary-General of the ASEAN China Centre
His Excellency Aladdin D. Rillo, Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN for Economic Community

Excellencies,

Distinguished guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

1              First of all, allow me to extend a very warm welcome to all the participants, particularly those who have travelled to Jakarta from other ASEAN Member States and China.  I would also like to thank my good friend and colleague Ambassador Huang Xilian, for inviting me to speak at today’s event.  Let me also acknowledge my good friend, Ambassador Yang Xiuping, Secretary-General of the ASEAN-China Centre, who has been a long-standing champion to advance ASEAN-China cooperation.

2               I would like to commend both the Chinese Mission to ASEAN and ASEAN-China Centre, for organising this important and timely event.  Today’s cooperation dialogue is important, because e-commerce has become the new business reality and is rapidly transforming the ways in which businesses buy and sell, and ordinary citizens shop and consume.  It is estimated that in seven years’ time, in 2025, the overall size of the regional market will increase to approximately US$90 billion, and Indonesia is poised to be the largest sub-market with around 50%, or US$46 billion worth of the e-commerce market in ASEAN.  We will see similar trends in other ASEAN Member States such as Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Singapore, where e-commerce will account for a larger and larger share of retail transactions.

3              In addition to growing in size, e-commerce will become an increasingly vital platform that will allow Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), which represent the backbone of our economies, to plug into the global supply chains. 

4              Today’s cooperation dialogue is also timely because its theme dovetails with the ASEAN-China Year of Innovation. Additionally, e-commerce is a key element of the theme of Singapore’s ASEAN Chairmanship, which focuses on “Resilience and Innovation”.  While e-commerce offers tremendous opportunities, it also introduces significant challenges, especially since much of ASEAN is starting from a low base of digital transformation.  In other words, the digital marketplace is both an opportunity and a challenge to businesses, as it brings both your customers and competitors to your doorsteps.  Hence, it is imperative that ASEAN Member States work closely together to ensure that the right complementary factors, enabling policies, and a supportive regulatory environment are in place.  This is particularly urgent because the pace of the digital revolution is relentless, and ASEAN must act to future proof ourselves. Together with our external partners, such as China, we must collaborate to ensure that ASEAN is well-positioned to reap the emerging opportunities of the digital revolution, particularly in E-commerce. 

5               For these reasons, Singapore has identified three deliverables that are related to the digital revolution for our Chairmanship.  The first deliverable is the ASEAN Agreement on E-Commerce.  The Agreement is expected to streamline regional trade rules governing ecommerce, promote greater digital connectivity, and lower operating barriers to entry for businesses. This will enhance the regional trade architecture for E-Commerce, realise freer movement of e-commerce goods across Southeast Asia, and better support the regional expansion of companies based in ASEAN.  It is also envisaged that the Agreement will serve as a platform for aspiring entrepreneurs, start-ups and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises to market their products and services regionally, while making it easier for them to send and receive electronic payments. Potentially, this will translate into more choices at cheaper prices for consumers, which means that everyone benefits.

6              The second deliverable is the ASEAN Digital Integration Framework which will allow ASEAN to better monitor and improve the digital ecosystem, and continuously assess where and how we can better allow stakeholders to benefit from ASEAN’s digital integration initiatives and efforts.  The third deliverable is the ASEAN Innovation Network, which will harness the opportunities for inter- and intra-ASEAN connections to strengthen the innovation ecosystems of ASEAN Member States. The ASEAN Innovation Network also aims to strengthen linkages between innovation ecosystems to spark new collaborations and solutions, and to address demands from the increasingly sophisticated and growing consumer base in the region.

Excellencies,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen, 

7              In this context, today’s cooperation dialogue provides another valuable platform for networking among our companies, think-tanks, and officials so that we can promote partnerships and networks that are crucial for us to innovate and thrive.  I am pleased to see so many of you gathered today from ASEAN and China, to exchange your experiences and perspectives on how to strengthen cooperation in e-commerce.  The time is ripe for ASEAN and China to expand our robust economic ties in tandem with the evolving times. We should explore mutually beneficial cooperation in E-commerce which holds tremendous potential for both sides.  There is much that ASEAN can learn from China’s experience, especially since China has been swiftly ascending the technology value chain, with companies like Tencent, Alibaba and Huawei creating and exporting high value, quality technology.  At the same time, Chinese participants will have the opportunity at this cooperation dialogue to learn more about ASEAN’s promising markets and forge fruitful partnerships. I wish everyone a fruitful and successful event.  Thank you.

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