SINGAPORE — Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Cristina A. Roque joined Singapore Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong at the Singapore Business Federation’s Asean Conference 2026 on July 31 to advance key Asean priorities.
During the conference, the Philippines highlighted the successful conclusion of negotiations for the Asean Digital Economy Framework Agreement (DEFA), calling it a game changer for regional integration and a major step toward Asean leaders’ vision of a digitally integrated, secure, interoperable, competitive and inclusive regional economy.
Speaking at the conference, Roque promoted the Philippine Asean chairmanship’s “Prosperity Corridors” pillar, which focuses on strategic trade, the digital economy, critical minerals, intellectual property, regional payment connectivity and creative industries.
“As Asean’s first region-wide digital economy agreement, DEFA is designed to make digital trade easier, safer, and more seamless across our borders. With successful implementation, studies estimate that DEFA could help grow Asean’s digital economy to around US$2 trillion by 2030,” Roque said.
“The agreement provides a regional framework for Asean’s digital economy ecosystem, covering areas such as digital trade, cross-border e-commerce, digital payment, digital identifier, cyber security, data governance, competition policy, emerging technologies, and digital talent,” she added.
Roque joined Gan in a ministerial dialogue on Asean’s role amid geopolitical tensions, economic fragmentation and rapid technological change. The Philippines and Singapore will serve as back-to-back Asean chairs in 2026 and 2027, respectively.
Amid global trade uncertainties, the Philippines is expanding market access through regional and bilateral trade agreements. In July 2026, the country concluded negotiations for the Philippines-Chile Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, its first free trade agreement with a Latin American country.
The agreement is expected to give Philippine exporters greater access to the Chilean market while providing a gateway to the broader Latin American region.
The government said these diversification efforts build on sustained export growth. Philippine exports reached US$29.93 billion from January to April 2026, up 11.1 percent from US$26.93 billion during the same period in 2025. April exports alone rose 6.3 percent to US$7.21 billion, marking the country’s 16th consecutive month of export growth.
Roque cited the successful conclusion of DEFA negotiations in Manila in May and its scheduled signing during the 49th Asean Summit in November as one of the Philippine chairmanship’s key achievements.
Once signed, DEFA will harmonize digital trade rules across Asean and reduce barriers to e-commerce. The agreement also includes forward-looking provisions that build on the region’s digital integration initiatives, including the Asean Single Window, digital payments connectivity, cross-border data initiatives, online consumer protection and the Asean Unique Business Identification Number.
Micro, small and medium enterprises account for 97 to 99 percent of all business establishments in Asean and employ about 85 percent of the region’s workforce. However, differing rules on data, payments and electronic invoicing continue to increase the cost of cross-border transactions.
“With DEFA being the first region-wide digital economy agreement in the world, Asean as a bloc is now a very important force to reckon with, especially as Asean is widely projected to reach the milestone of becoming the world’s fourth-largest economy by 2030. Once we go as a bloc, this will really promote a lot of industries and elevate Asean as a major force in terms of trade and buying power that we can offer to the US market, to the EU market, and to the world,” Roque said.
Beyond digital integration, the Philippines is also pushing for stronger regional support for creative industries to help Asean creators, artists, designers and cultural enterprises reach wider markets while preserving the region’s unique identities.
The Philippine chairmanship also aims to equip MSMEs and workers with the skills needed to use artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies productively and responsibly.
The country is likewise advancing an Asean Economic Security Framework to identify economic vulnerabilities, strengthen supply chains and preserve the region’s openness, competitiveness and centrality.
The initiative complements efforts to conclude DEFA, expand regional payments connectivity, implement the upgraded Asean Trade in Goods Agreement, and modernize the Asean-China Free Trade Area.
Now in its 10th year, the Singapore Business Federation’s Asean Conference, themed “Asean’s Future in a Fractured World,” brought together senior government officials, policymakers, business leaders and MSMEs from Asean and partner economies. PR
