ASEAN signs digital economy pact covering AI and cross-border data

Representatives of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations signed the Digital Economy Framework Agreement in Manila on Nov. 14. The pact, known as DEFA, includes cooperation on artificial intelligence. Indonesia’s economic affairs ministry said representatives from 11 member countries took part in the signing. The Philippine president’s communications office said the signed agreement was handed to ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn at the regional summit’s opening the following day.

Companies that operate an AI service in more than one ASEAN market now have a timetable for the bloc’s new framework for moving data and doing business online. Singapore’s ministry says the agreement is due to take effect 180 days after signing and will replace the 2019 ASEAN Agreement on Electronic Commerce at that point. The ministry said the full text would appear on the ASEAN Secretariat’s website in early 2027.

AI joins the digital trade agenda

Negotiations began in September 2023, when Indonesia chaired ASEAN. In June 2024, the bloc’s science and technology ministers identified AI as a subject for discussion under the agreement’s provisions for emerging technologies. Talks concluded in May 2026. November’s signing puts cooperation on AI alongside areas such as electronic payments and privacy in ASEAN’s first standalone agreement on the digital economy.

ASEAN had already issued guidance on AI governance and ethics and expanded it to cover generative AI in 2025. The expanded guide recommends that model developers, companies that deploy models, regulators and cloud providers work out how to share responsibility. It also discusses ways for members to coordinate on testing and the reporting of incidents. Those are examples of work the bloc had identified before the trade pact was signed.

Singapore’s description of the new agreement says it deepens cooperation on AI and financial technology. The details of how that cooperation will work remain to be published. The briefing material leaves open whether countries will use a common model assessment procedure or recognize assessments performed elsewhere in the region.

From trade paperwork to cross-border data

Electronic trade documents are one area where the deal could affect daily operations. Singapore’s ministry says the pact provides for wider acceptance of records such as certificates of origin and bills of lading, as well as electronic signatures and invoices. A certificate of origin states where goods were produced, while a bill of lading records that a carrier has received the goods. The agreement seeks to expand the use of digital records in transactions that cross borders.

ASEAN members switched to fully electronic issuance and acceptance for a certificate of origin used in regional trade on Jan. 1, 2024, through a shared customs system. The bloc said the paper version of that form would remain available if technical problems arose. Singapore’s factsheet on DEFA identifies a wider set of trade records, including shipping documents and electronic invoices.

Data provisions also matter to a retailer whose orders are processed in another country or a company that offers AI features across markets. The agreement deals with commercial data transfers as well as privacy. Singapore says the pact also protects source code and cryptographic information from disclosure demands imposed as a condition for entering a market. The protections for software and rules for data transfers address different decisions that a business may face when it expands. The text and national implementation measures will set out how the provisions apply.

Singapore Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong told reporters after the signing that members were at different stages of developing their digital economies. He said he hoped to have initial projects ready when the agreement takes effect, citing payment systems, digital identity and electronic documents as possibilities. Indonesia’s government called for an implementation plan that considers the readiness of each country, involves businesses and helps smaller firms participate.

Speaking at the ASEAN Business and Investment Summit on the day of the signing, ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn called for faster ratification and said the bloc was working to have its implementation plan ready by May 2027. Singapore says the full agreement will be posted to the ASEAN Secretariat’s website in early 2027.