D

efense officials from ASEAN and European Union member states exchanged ideas about the advancement of security systems for electronic transactions amid the rising popularity of e-commerce and recent digital attacks.

Francisco Fontàn, the EU Ambassador to ASEAN, said on Monday that e-commerce’s potential around the world was huge.

In Southeast Asia, for instance, it could potentially reach US$800 million, Fontàn said quoting data released by ASEAN’s deputy secretary-general for politics and security, Hoang Anh Tuan, at the three-day seminar on security and defense in Jakarta.

“But, of course, ASEAN and the EU cannot have e-commerce without e-safety. So, I think ASEAN, which is very much focused on the progress in economic development, is aware that it will not gain the full benefit of e-commerce without concentrating on e-security,” Fontàn said.

Therefore, ASEAN was looking to train people and exchange ideas with partners like the EU, which already had security regulations for electronic transactions in place as part of the digital single market policy, he added.

The policy, which is part of the EU’s proposed digital initiative strategy for 2020, is aimed at promoting digital marketing, e-commerce and telecommunications across the European bloc while also regulating, among other things, copyright laws, geo-blocking, cross-border sales and personal data handling.

“I think we have a lot to share with ASEAN, both in terms of making cyberspace safe and fighting cybercrime,” said Fontàn.

He added that European digital companies were hoping to invest in Southeast Asia and the EU was expected to help make cyberspace safe in ASEAN.

When asked what the EU expects to learn from ASEAN, he said the seminar was meant to go beyond learning from each other. The EU hoped for intelligence sharing as threats in Europe might or might not come from Asia and vice versa, he added.

There is huge potential in ASEAN, where the digital economy currently accounts for just 7 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), compared to 16 percent in China, 27 percent in Europe and 35 percent in the United States.

In April, ASEAN leaders discussed ways to set up regulation frameworks, including norms, for the responsible use of cyber media after several digital data breaches, such as Singapore’s biggest cyber attack, when about 1.5 million health records were stolen, including those of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

Indonesia at that time brought up the discussion again in which Jakarta emphasized the importance of personal data protection after the data of some 1 million Facebook users from Indonesia was harvested by United Kingdom-based political consultancy firm Cambridge Analytica.

Indonesian Defense University rector Lt. Gen. Tri Legionosuko said Indonesia should use the seminar to propose an academic exchange program with the EU.

He added that Indonesian academics would then be able to share Jakarta’s view on the Indo-Pacific concept, which was open, transparent, inclusive, in accordance with international law and based on ASEAN centrality.

“I see that they have taken into account the huge potential in and the power of the Indo-Pacific considering that every policy made in the region will likely impact their policy,” Tri said.