A Social Implementation Promotion Project for Electronic Trade Transaction System

 
The ASEAN region has witnessed a significant increase in export volumes since the 1990s, growing more than ninefold over the past two decades. Despite this growth, trade transactions among ASEAN countries predominantly rely on paper-based methods, highlighting the necessity for enhancing transactions efficiency. However, there is considerable potential for improving the electronic management of trade documents for imports and exports, from contract to payment. This improvement could reduce trade and trade finance costs for businesses, facilitate SMEs participation in trade and ensure the resilience of the supply chain through transparent procedures. Promoting the digitalization of trade transactions in the ASEAN region is crucial, particularly through collaboration with Japan and ASEAN.

To address this, the AEM-METI Economic and Industrial Cooperation Committee (AMEICC) in collaboration with ASEAN Business Association Council (ABAC), had conducted a project with a timeframe of May 2023 to February 2024. The project is contracted to Mitsubishi Research Institute (MRI) to examine the deployment potential of a digital trade platform from technical, economic and policy perspectives. The objective is to accelerate the adoption of trade transaction digitalization systems across ASEAN by analyzing the current situation in respective ASEAN Member Countries, assessing policy impacts on social uptake, and developing a roadmap for achieving domestic and international measures, and policy recommendations for the implementation of an ASEAN-wide digital trade platform.

Further information regarding this project is accessible as below, which includes its Final Report and Roadmap for the Promotion of Digital Trade Platform in ASEAN.

 

Summary (English version)
Full Report (English version)
Summary (Japanese version)
Full Report (Japanese version)