DEEPEN COLLABORATION IN DIGITAL ECONOMY
At the plenary, whose topic was ASEAN Matters: Epicentrum of Growth, Mr Lee also said that member states can reap economic gains by improving people’s digital connectivity and literacy.
Singapore strongly supports Indonesia’s efforts to develop the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement, and welcomes the proposed Leaders’ Statement on the agreement that is expected to be issued later this year, he added.
“Economic integration has long been ASEAN’s priority and must always remain so. It underpins ASEAN centrality,” said Mr Lee.
“We need to update and upgrade our core agreements, such as the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement, to keep them relevant to evolving business practices.”
Beyond economic issues, ASEAN should also step up cooperation on transnational issues, Mr Lee said. This includes protecting its people from “increasingly sophisticated” cross-border threats.
Adding that cybersecurity cooperation should also be enhanced, Mr Lee noted the “good progress” made on the ASEAN Regional Computer Emergency Response Team proposal.
This proposal will strengthen regional cyber cooperation and incident response capabilities against sophisticated cyber threats, he said.