Asean’s digital economy pact promises to unlock US$2 trillion, but is unknown to 1 in 3 firms: poll
Being in the dark, these firms could be making decisions that may need to be unwound when the agreement kicks in
The landmark Digital Economy Framework Agreement (Defa) is poised to unlock up to US$2 trillion for Southeast Asia, yet more than a third of regional business leaders remain unfamiliar with the pact. The 2026 Asean Business Outlook Survey, conducted jointly by Accenture, Google, and the American Chamber of Commerce Singapore, found that 35 per cent of polled firms were unaware of Defa, while 49 per cent had heard of it but had not assessed its impact on their operations.
A further 12 per cent stated that they had evaluated Defa's relevance, and 4 per cent had an action plan in place. Bani Trehan, managing director for AI and data at Accenture, emphasized that the lack of familiarity could lead to decisions that may need to be reversed when Defa's provisions come into effect. Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong described Defa as a "pathfinder" for the Asean to develop ways to work together in the digital economy, and hoped it would be signed by the end of the year.
The survey also revealed that Asean member nations are a middle-heavy market in agentic AI adoption, with most companies having put it on their agenda but not yet building the capability to turn it into an operating advantage.
Written by urgent.news from The Business Times - Singapore's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
