BANGKOK: The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) will host its first regional online shopping event in August this year to promote cross-border trade through e-commerce.
Indonesia, which has the rotating presidency of the bloc in 2023, recently proposed the notion of encouraging e-commerce among the member states, drawing in consumers and small- and medium-sized businesses.
According to Vietnam News Agency (VNA), the first related event will be an online sales day held on Asean Day (Aug 8), which will feature the greatest Asean items at discounted prices.
All internet-based economies in Asean, including online travel, e-commerce, online media, and ride-hailing services, were estimated to reach US$72 billion, according to the 2018 e-Conomy SEA, an edition of a multi-year research project by Google and Temasek to shed light on the internet economy in Southeast Asia.
The study also predicted that Southeast Asia’s internet economy could surpass US$240 billion by 2025.
In 2019, the Asean Agreement on Electronic Commerce was signed in order to facilitate the development of e-commerce transactions in the bloc and strengthen cooperation between member countries. – BERNAMA
