Singapore Concludes Fruitful Chairmanship of the ASEAN Digital Ministers Meeting

Singapore Concludes Fruitful Chairmanship of the ASEAN Digital Ministers Meeting, Delivering Concrete Outcomes to Bring ASEAN Towards a Brighter Digital Future

1. Singapore, as the Chair of the 4th ASEAN Digital Ministers Meeting (ADGMIN), has handed over the Chairmanship to Thailand, after a year that saw deepening cooperation and significant progress among ASEAN Member States (AMS) in digital priorities critical to their citizens and businesses.

2. Under Singapore’s Chairmanship, AMS strengthened cooperation in AI governance and safety, cybersecurity, combatting scams, and cross-border data flows.

3. Singapore’s Minister of Digital Development and Information, Mrs. Josephine Teo, attended the 5th ADGMIN in Thailand on 16 to 17 January 2025, where she officially handed over the ADGMIN Chairmanship to Mr. Prasert Jantararuangtong, Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Economy and Society.

4. Minister Teo said: “Singapore is immensely grateful for the strong support of ASEAN Member States (AMS) during our Chairmanship. Together, we made significant strides towards many of our digital priorities for the benefit of our peoples and businesses. We wish Thailand every success in its Chairmanship. Singapore remains firmly committed to advancing Tech for the Public Good for ASEAN and the world. We will continue working with AMS to transform our region into a digitally connected economic and social bloc, undergirded by robust cybersecurity efforts.”

Milestones Achieved under Singapore’s Chairmanship

5. The 4th ADGMIN, held in Singapore in February 2024, brought together delegates from all 10 AMS, Dialogue Partners – US, China, Japan, Korea and India – as well as the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) as Development Partner.

6. Following the four-day event, AMS pressed on with their efforts to forge a more integrated, open, safe and resilient digital ASEAN over the past year. The past year’s advancements in overcoming transboundary digital challenges hinges upon close cooperation within ASEAN, with Singapore taking an active, leading role.

AI Governance

7. Under its Chairmanship, Singapore continued to lead and shape AI Governance discussions in ASEAN through the Working Group on AI Governance (WG-AI), which Singapore established and convened. The WG-AI is now tasked to oversee and coordinate all AI work in ASEAN. The Working Group also serves as the focal point for ASEAN’s cooperation on AI with external partners like the US, China, Japan, Korea and India.

8. The WG-AI built on the ASEAN Guide on AI Governance and Ethics launched in 2024 and expanded its scope to address the governance of Generative AI. The Expanded Guide took reference from IMDA’s MGF-Gen AI, and was adapted for ASEAN’s context. It features use cases from ASEAN that exemplify how organisations in our region are approaching some of the practical challenges of AI governance and ethics, including from: Project Moonshot by AI Verify Foundation (Singapore), PhoGPT by VinAI (Viet Nam), and ThaiLLM by the Big Data Institute (Thailand).

9. The WG-AI will now look into driving some of the key recommendations of the Guide, such as developing common safety benchmarks and a regional testing framework.

10. Singapore’s efforts in the WG-AI ensure that we continue to play an active role in AI governance in the region and that our businesses’ and citizens’ interests are well-represented. With the development of practical guides, common benchmarks and frameworks, public trust that undergirds AI innovation can be strengthened. Such initiatives also facilitate the scaling of businesses not just within their home country, but in the region.

Cybersecurity

ASEAN Regional CERT

11. Following the endorsement of the financial model of the ASEAN Regional during the 4th ADGMIN, its inaugural taskforce meeting - chaired by Malaysia as the first rotating overall coordinator – took place in Singapore on 16 August 2024. This marked a significant milestone in ASEAN, in strengthening the region’s cyber-response capabilities to address common threats.

12. Located in Singapore, the physical facility of the ASEAN Regional CERT will allow all ASEAN Member States to more actively participate in the timely sharing of information on cyber-related threats through CERT-CERT cooperation. The facility also provides dedicated space for activities (e.g. cyber exercises, workshops, and CERT-CERT cyber capacity building programmes) that will foster a cohesive collaboration of efforts under the initiative.

13. As cybersecurity threats are transboundary in nature, the establishment of the ASEAN Regional CERT is expected to be beneficial to fortifying Singapore’s own defences against cyber threats.

ASEAN Checklist for the Implementation of the Norms of Responsible State Behaviour in Cyberspace

14. Singapore and Malaysia, as co-leads, worked closely with all AMS to drive the development of the ASEAN Checklist for the Implementation of the Norms of Responsible State Behaviour in Cyberspace, making ASEAN the first region to develop such a resource. The Checklist serves as a reference for States to take practical steps towards building capacity to implement the voluntary, non-binding norms of responsible State behaviour in cyberspace, as contained in the 2015 UN Report of the Group of Governmental Experts on developments in the field of information and telecommunications in the context of international security, in line with our national priorities and capacities.

15. Taken together, the efforts of the ASEAN Regional CERT and Checklist contribute towards an open, safe, secure, stable, accessible, interoperable, and peaceful cyberspace, which underpins ASEAN’s growing digital economy. The Checklist is not only useful for AMS, but also for countries beyond the region to support the collective efforts to build a safer and more secure cyberspace.

Combatting Scams

16. A Working Group on Anti-Online Scams was established and convened to strengthen the ways ASEAN can combat scams across digital and telecommunication channels during Singapore’s chairmanship. As Chair of the 4th ADGMIN, Singapore strongly supported Thailand in securing the endorsement of AMS on two key outcome documents, namely: Report of the Online Scams Activities in ASEAN, and ASEAN Recommendations on Anti-Online Scams.

17. To maintain the momentum, Singapore will be developing the ASEAN Guide for Anti-Scams Policies and Best Practices in 2025. This Guide will establish recommended anti-scam policies and best practices for combating scam calls and text messages. The Guide will also explore a region-wide information-sharing arrangement, which can help facilitate cross-border tracing of scams in telco channels. Singapore will also share some of the best practices from governments in the region, including our multi-layered approach to disrupt the scammers’ kill-chain.

18. Recognising the transboundary nature of scams, these guidelines and combined efforts between government and industry within the region will raise the barriers for scammers attempting to establish operations in ASEAN, creating stronger protection for AMS citizens against scams.

Cross-border data flows to facilitate business operations

19. In recognition of the challenges that businesses face in navigating different data protection regimes within ASEAN and globally, Singapore initiated several initiatives to promote trusted flow of data across borders. These initiatives include the ASEAN Guide on Data Anonymisation, Operational Framework for Global Cross-border Privacy Rules, and Joint Guide to ASEAN Model Contractual Clauses (MCCs) and Ibero-American Data Protection Network (RIPD) MCCs. We welcome cooperation with external partners on such efforts and will be working with China to develop a Joint Guide on Mapping of the ASEAN MCCs and China’s Standard Contractual Clauses for Cross-border Data Flows this year.

20. These initiatives help bring clarity to businesses on the cross-border mechanisms and processes and lower operational costs for businesses, which may face challenges in navigating different data protection regimes in ASEAN and globally. This is especially important for a regional business hub such as Singapore.

Singapore’s Winners at the ASEAN Digital Awards

21. The annual award ceremony for the ASEAN Digital Awards (ADA) was held in conjunction with the 5th ADGMIN Gala Dinner on 16 January 2025. At the ceremony, 18 organisations, businesses and individuals across ASEAN countries were recognised for their cutting-edge digital innovations in six categories: (i) Public Sector, (ii) Private Sector, (iii) Digital Inclusivity, (iv) Digital Content, (v) Digital Start-up, and (vi) Digital Innovation.

22. Two Singapore companies, Addlly AI and AI Seer, clinched the finalist awards in the category of Digital Content. Addlly AI, known for its cutting-edge Generative AI platform, Addlly AI playground, continues to empower businesses with high-quality, SEO-optimised digital content that enhances brand identity. Their consistent excellence in digital content creation has earned them this recognition for the second consecutive year. AI Seer, making its first appearance as a finalist at the awards, has made significant strides in truth verification with their pioneering platform, Facticity.AI. This achievement highlights their commitment to combating misinformation and enhancing the transparency and accuracy of information.

23. Minister Teo, together with other ASEAN Digital Ministers, Senior Officials, and Dialogue & Development Partners, also attended the Awards ceremony, in support of the Awards participants.

Conclusion

24. During her two-day working visit, Minister Teo also visited Singapore company, Grab’s office in Bangkok to understand the challenges and opportunities for tech companies operating in the region.

Jointly issued by the Ministry of Digital Development and Information and Infocomm Media Development Authority