The Tech for Good Institute (TFGI) participated in the 2026 ASEAN Business Environment Forum (ABEF), held at the Ascott Bonifacio Global City in Metro Manila, Philippines. Convened by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) through the ASEAN Committee on Business and Investment Promotion (CBIP), in partnership with the Asian Development Bank. The forum brought together government officials, industry leaders, and policy researchers from the region to discuss how ASEAN can translate its digital ambitions into tangible outcomes, particularly for MSMEs and informal workers.

The scale of the opportunity is significant. ASEAN’s digital economy surpassed US$300 billion in gross merchandise value (GMV) in 2025—a 7.4-fold increase over the past decade. The region is home to 125,000 new internet users every day, with projections suggesting the digital economy could contribute up to US$1 trillion to regional GDP over the next decade. Yet significant inclusion gaps persist.More than 70% of Southeast Asia’s adult population remains unbanked or underbanked, while 164 million workers, representing 57% of the regional workforce, face significant disruption from generative AI.

The session featured a high-level plenary on innovative policy approaches for digital reform, moderated by Dr Sandy Chong, Head of Regional Projects, Asia-Pacific, World Economic Forum. TFGI’s Institute Director, Arifah Sharifuddin, contributed to the discussion alongside panellists from Grab, GCash Philippines, and Microsoft ASEAN.

To address these challenges, the panel concluded with a unified agenda outlining three priorities to be advanced across at least three ASEAN member states by the end of 2026:

• Establishing trusted data corridors for safe cross-border data flows;
• Formalising ecosystem orchestration as a recognised institutional function to coordinate reform at scale; and
• Developing interoperable digital merchant identification to ease the compliance burden for small businesses

Together, these initiatives provide a cohesive roadmap to overcome operational bottlenecks and ensure ASEAN’s digital economy grows in both scale and inclusivity.

Moderator and Panellists

• Moderator
  • Dr Sandy Chong, Head of Regional Projects, Asia-Pacific, World Economic Forum
• Panelists
  • Arifah Sharifuddin, Institute Director, Tech for Good Institute (TFGI)
  • Chin Yin Ong, Chief Organisational Capability Officer, Grab
  • Oscar Ren-Ren Reyes Jr., President and CEO, G-Xchange, Inc. (GCash) Philippines
  • Nabila Hussain, Director of Government Affairs, Southeast Asia, Microsoft ASEAN

Key Takeaways

1. Being Online is the Starting Point, Not the Finish Line

Connectivity alone does not ensure meaningful digital participation without corresponding governance. TFGI’s research highlights a widening gap between those who are simply online and those protected by digital rules. Across the SEA-6 economies, governance is shifting from foundational ethical principles to binding regulations. This shift is already in motion, with Vietnam’s AI Law taking effect in March 2026 and Malaysia’s expected by late 2026. Governments are also investing in sovereign digital infrastructure, such as Vietnam’s AI supercomputing centre and Malaysia’s National Sovereign AI Cloud. For businesses, predictability increasingly depends on understanding both regulatory developments and the entities that control the underlying infrastructure.

The panel also highlighted limitations of current regulatory sandboxes. With nearly 90% of regional sandboxes focusing on product testing rather than rule development. Panellists advocated for cross-border “rule-testing corridors”, to enable controlled experimentation with generative AI and e-commerce frameworks before broader implementation.

2. Digital Identity is a Foundational Infrastructure

Reliable identity verification remains a key bottleneck to cross-border digital participation. ASEAN-BAC estimates that a unified business identity framework could unlock US$110-US$300 billion in value, contributing up to 25% of DEFA’s projected US$1 trillion uplift in the digital economy. However, foundational infrastructure remains fragmented across member states. While GCash’s National ID integration successfully streamlined individual KYC in the Philippines, business onboarding can still take months due to fragmented, multi-agency requirements.

To address this and accelerate financial inclusion, panellists suggested that ASEAN adopt a unified framework, drawing on models such as India’s national merchant database, where merchant verification can be completed in as little as five minutes. Without trusted, interoperable identity systems, digital financial services cannot reach the 264 million adults in Southeast Asia who remain unbanked, nor  the many MSMEs that are unable to access loans when needed.. Panellists emphasised that national merchant IDs and interoperable KYC frameworks should be treated as public infrastructure—comparable to roads—enabling access to markets rather than creating additional barriers.

3. Collaboration Must Move Beyond Pilots to Scale

ASEAN must move beyond short-term pilots toward formal ecosystem orchestration to achieve regional scale. The panel identified four conditions for success:

• Prioritising non-regulatory levers, such as sandboxes and industry guidelines, before moving to binding rules;
• Scaling compliance requirements proportionally, so smaller businesses are not disproportionately burdened;
• Adopting principles-based design, where governments set the objectives and the market determines the methods; and
• Establishing permanent coordination structures, rather than one-time engagements

Singapore’s 17-member Autonomous Vehicle Steering Committee, which brings together industry, unions, and multiple government agencies in an ongoing structure, was cited as a working model for sustained multi-stakeholder coordination. Similarly, real-time data-sharing initiatives, such as those by Indonesia’s national statistics agency, further illustrates how structured public-private trust can replace slow, traditional bureaucracy with agile, platform-driven policy.  MSMEs account for 85% of employment and 45% of GDP across ASEAN, yet cross-border compliance costs remain 20-30% above standard operating costs. Supply chain digitisation led by larger platforms, paired with government incentives, offers a practical pathway to reducing these costs.

4. Talent and Workforce Transformation Requires Shared Accountability, Not Fragmented Responses

An estimated 57% of Southeast Asia’s workforce, or 164 million workers, are expected to be impacted by generative AI. The effects are uneven, with over 70% of women and up to 76% of Gen Z workers in roles likely to be significantly augmented or disrupted. Skills required for jobs across Southeast Asia are projected to change by 72% between 2016 and 2030, compared to 40% in the previous decade.

Panellists emphasised that AI upskilling must move beyond voluntary, market-driven programmes. Singapore illustrates the importance of government intervention, with public agencies actively co-funding and co-designing initiatives to achieve the required scale. The panel also stressed the need for carefully designed incentives to address informal workers’ concerns around taxation and regulation when formalising their skills. AI adoption could contribute up to 18% to ASEAN’s GDP if the transition is inclusive. Realising this potential, however, requires treating workforce transformation with the same priority as digital infrastructure investment.