BANGKOK, 16 JANUARY 2025 – The 5th ASEAN Digital Ministers’ Meeting (ADGMIN) and Related Meetings with Dialogue Partners, including the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and Asia Pacific Telecommunity (APT) is took place on 16-17 January in Bangkok, Thailand.
Chaired by Thailand, the ADGMIN Chair for 2025, was attended by Secretary-General of ASEAN Dr. Kao Kim Hourn. The 5th ADGMIN theme “Secure, Innovative, Inclusive: Shaping ASEAN’s Digital Future” was considered timely to fully unlock the potential of ASEAN Digital Economy by harnessing the transformative power of artificial intelligence (AI) which requires multiple stakeholder’s collaboration including policy makers, private sector and the community towards shaping ASEAN’s Digital Future.
The meeting recognised issues on digital divide, cross-border data flows, cybersecurity, and the rapid pace of technological change continue to collectively present regulatory obstacles. It further acknowledged that ensuring the protection of sensitive personal information will only become more critical as we can build a more secure, innovative, inclusive digital economy that benefits the ASEAN businesses, consumers, and societies. Therefore, the conclusion of DEFA will be a key priority in 2025 to position ASEAN as a pioneering region that forges a legally binding agreement to foster a unified digital economy.
The meeting approved the ASEAN Digital Senior Officials’ Meeting (ADGSOM) – ASEAN Telecommunications Regulators’ Council (ATRC) Key Deliverables for 2024, the ADGSOM-ATRC Work Plan and Budget for 2025, “The Declaration on the Establishment of an ASEAN AI Safety Network (AI SAFE)” as the Priority Economic Deliverable (PED), and “The ASEAN Guide on Sustainable Data Centre Development” as the Annual Priority (AP) for the 2025 Work Cycle.
Furthermore, the meeting endorsed projects or activities with dialogue partners, including China, Japan, the Republic of Korea (ROK), India, the United States (U.S.), the European Union (EU), the ITU, the APT and Russia, for the 2025 Work Cycle. The meeting also welcomed the addition of the World Bank as the latest development partner to ADGSOM from 2025 onwards.
The meeting also supported the call for ADGSOM to play a more significant role in coordinating AI cooperation, especially ASEAN initiatives that impact AI policies, governance, laws and regulations, standards, and direct engagement with AI industry players within and beyond ASEAN. In line with this, the Terms of Reference (ToR) for the ASEAN Working Group on AI Governance (WG-AI) have been revised to incorporate these recommendations
With the ASEAN Digital Masterplan 2025 reaching its end mark, the meeting reiterated the importance to continue the digital transformation momentum in the development of the ASEAN Digital Masterplan 2030 (ADM2030). The ADM2030 will serve as a visionary framework that will set the pace for ASEAN’s digital future over the next 5 years. In this regard, Viet Nam has been entrusted to lead the development of ADM2030 in 2025, with a target for endorsement at the 6th ADGMIN in later this year.
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Images Credit: Ministry of Digital Economy and Society (MDES), Thailand
