Digital Trans-Boundary Initiatives of the ASEAN Economic Community as a Tool for the Development of Singapore’s Economy

Abstract

This article seeks to clarify the potential for digital collaboration between the Republic of Singapore and its partners in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) within the framework of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) as a means of stimulating economic growth in Singapore. The paper traces the features of economic modernization of the Republic of Singapore and assesses the efficiency of its approach to digital transformation of its economy. The article reveals Singapore’s approach to the integration initiatives undertaken by ASEAN, with a special focus on AEC. It also identifies the possibilities of providing effective digital support for multilateral trans-boundary economic projects within the ASEAN framework. The latter is analyzed through the prism of infrastructure development and digital competencies in ASEAN countries as well as the specifics of their regulation of cross-border digital flows and the development of data centers. Special attention is paid to the role of global value chains (GVCs) in Southeast Asia (SEA) as a key success factor behind ASEAN cross-border digital projects. The authors argue that negative integration, a cornerstone of ASEAN economic regionalism initiatives, undermines the digital transformation of the ongoing projects. This ultimately constrains Singapore’s capacity to leverage the cooperative frameworks and mechanisms established with its AEC partners to diversify and strengthen the foundations of its domestic economic growth. The study’s relevance is premised upon two factors: the timeliness of its focus on the digital cooperation between ASEAN countries ahead of the second completion of the ASEAN Economic Community establishment, scheduled for 2025, and the limitations of the modernization strategy implemented by the Republic of Singapore amidst its sixtieth anniversary of independence. The scientific and practical significance of the study stems from its focus, as the possibilities of “resetting” the Singaporean version of new industrialism in synergy with the policy of the Republic of Singapore towards the ASEAN Economic Community, as well as the implementation of multilateral cross-border digital projects by the Association, have not yet been an area of research by Russian and foreign scholars.