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UNCTAD taking surveys for e-commerce legal harmonization in ASEAN

28 September 2012

Together with the ASEAN Secretariat and the ASEAN Telecommunications and IT Senior Officials (TELSOM) Working Groups, UNCTAD is currently undertaking a review of e-commerce laws harmonization in the ten member countries of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN). Surveys have been sent to the member Governments and the private sector.

ASEAN-logo_150x150.gifThe review will take stock of the progress made in the adoption and implementation of e-commerce laws in the ASEAN countries and identify remaining challenges to overcome in the implementation and enforcement of e-commerce laws. It will also highlight legal and regulatory issues that are emerging as a result of evolving technologies and applications, such as cloud computing and mobile commerce, which could potentially bring value to governments, businesses (especially small and medium enterprises) and citizens at large.

In this context, two online surveys on existing legal frameworks for e-commerce activities have been launched to collect information and comments from Government and private sector representatives in the region. The result of the surveys will be useful to policy makers in the ASEAN region to identify the needs in this area, in particular with regard to further regional harmonization of legal frameworks.

The results of the survey will be discussed at the first joint ASEAN/UNCTAD workshop on Cyberlaw Harmonization in Cebu, the Philippines, 10-11 November 2012.

UNCTAD’s work programme on E-commerce and Law Reform is funded by the Government of Finland.


For more information, please contact Ms. Cécile Barayre, Science, Technology and ICT Branch, Division on Technology and Logistics, at cecile.barayre@unctad.org