Addressing Digital Protectionism in ASEAN: Towards Better Regional Governance in the Digital Age

Executive Summary

This policy report examines the issue of digital protectionism in Southeast Asia. Digital Protectionism refers to “barriers and impediments to digital trade [including] localization barriers, data privacy and protection, intellectual property-related issues, and online censorship, as well as impediments to digitally enabled trade.” The report aims at addressing digital protectionism in ASEAN by offering feasible policy recommendations for Southeast Asian authorities to help them better tackle the problem. It begins by discussing regional architectures governing digital economy and E-Commerce, and demonstrating that certain digital protectionist measures in Southeast Asia are still intact. It then provides some practical policy recommendations that ASEAN rulemakers could adopt to further address digital protectionism and advance the region’s digital economy and E-Commerce. The report concludes with discussions about political elements that could facilitate the implementation of the proposed recommendations.

About the Author

Dr Kaewkamol (Karen) Pitakdumrongkit is an Assistant Professor at the Centre for Multilateralism Studies, at S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) of Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. She completed her MA and PhD in Political Science at the University of California, Santa Barbara, U.S.A. Before joining RSIS, Karen assisted Kenan Institute Asia in analysing trade and industry data concerning the impact of the proposed EU-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement on Thailand’s industries. Her research interests include international economic negotiations, East Asian economic governance, relationships between regional and global economic governance, ASEAN Economic Community, and political socialisation. Beside research, Karen teaches a course on the Political Economy of Southeast Asia at the RSIS International Political Economy programme.