Kanaev Evgeniy

Leveling the Digital Playing Field across Southeast Asia: An Assessment of Brunei’s Contribution

ЮГО-ВОСТОЧНАЯ АЗИЯ: АКТУАЛЬНЫЕ ПРОБЛЕМЫ РАЗВИТИЯ, 2025, №2(67), 132-146

 
Annotation: The article attempts to specify the extent to which Brunei can contribute to ASEAN-led digital projects and initiatives. As in the current circumstances digital support for trans-boundary cooperation is an indispensable success factor, the paper focuses on the presumable establishment of the unified digital area in Southeast Asia as an enabler of trans-boundary economic and commercial activity with an emphasis on moving to a single digital marketing area. Then, the author turns to discussing salient features of Brunei’s modernization strategy, its economic and business practices, as well as doing business conditions. An analysis focusing on how Brunei’s digital instruments are developed, from the perspective of its contribution to the already operational ASEAN-led multilateral initiatives, exemplified by ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA), as well as its direction ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA), is carried out. Arguably, although Brunei is far ahead of many of its ASEAN partners, it cannot be a fully-fledged participant of ASEAN-led multilateralism, especially as their digital support is gaining momentum. The paper takes a step forward in enriching knowledge of ASEAN-led multilateralism amidst its digital transformation in synergy with Brunei’s contribution. As Russian and foreign scholars have not paid sufficient attention to Brunei’s development and its policy towards the association, the main insights and assessments of the article have obvious academic novelty, as well as theoretical and practical significance.

Keywords: digital transformation, Brunei, economic development, ASEAN, multilateral cooperation, digital marketing, AFTA