Determining the increasing impact of Asia’s digital economy

The Opportunity

A leading technology firm and an independent trade policy foundation wanted to prove that Asia’s growth is increasingly carried by digital exports – e-commerce storefronts, mobile-app ecosystems and embedded digital services – rather than by physical containers alone.

Conventional trade statistics overlook these virtual flows, leaving policymakers with little evidence of their scale or strategic importance. Without robust numbers, governments risk under-valuing digital trade, under-investing in the infrastructure and policies that enable it, and under-representing it in regional negotiations. The partners turned to Access Partnership for an authoritative assessment that could make the invisible economy visible.

The Solution

We built a comprehensive economic model drawing on alternative data sources to measure current digital-export value in China, Japan, Indonesia, India, Australia, the Philippines, Malaysia and Vietnam. Scenario analysis projected growth trajectories to 2030, while local case studies illustrated how firms already benefit from cross-border digital trade. Findings were distilled into market-specific reports and launched alongside business-community events to spur dialogue with national stakeholders.

The Impact

• Provided the first robust valuation of digital exports across eight Asian economies
• Supplied evidence now cited by APEC officials, ASEAN governments, and trade negotiators when shaping digital-trade policy
• Positioned digital trade as a policy priority, informing investment and regulatory roadmaps through to 2030

Tags

Economics Analysis

Trade

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