Jakarta. An upcoming regional digital economy agreement will likely help make ASEAN the world’s fourth-largest economic power by 2030, according to the bloc’s secretary-general Kao Kim Hourn.

ASEAN last year launched the negotiations for the digital economy framework agreement, better known by its acronym DEFA. Southeast Asia’s largest internet economy Indonesia was holding the group’s chairmanship at the time. The DEFA is also part of the 10-member grouping’s strategy to pave the way for a seamless digital trade and secure data flow in the region. 

ASEAN is hoping to wrap up the DEFA talks when Malaysia chairs the group next year. Laos recently hosted the group’s foreign ministerial meeting, and the DEFA pact, among others, was high up on the agenda.

Commenting on the outcome of the Laos conference, Kao Kim Hourn told reporters on Tuesday that ASEAN sought to finish half of the DEFA negotiations this year, thus leaving the remainder for 2025.

“The ministers discussed the need to unlock the potential of the digital economy, which could facilitate us to become the fourth largest economy by 2030 or earlier,” Kao Kim Hourn said in a media briefing in Jakarta. 

“Let’s get DEFA moving forward as soon as possible,” the secretary-general said.

Reports suggest that ASEAN’s digital economy will likely reach $1 trillion in 2030. The DEFA pact is set to double the projections. ASEAN claimed that its combined gross domestic product (GDP) totaled approximately $3.7 trillion.

The region is home to over 670 million people. Kao Kim Hourn previously said that ASEAN already secured the position of being the world’s fifth–largest economy.

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