Vietnam & Singapore to Negotiate on Digital Trade Agreement

Vietnam and Singapore are on their way to work out a Digital Trade Agreement. What will this affect the crypto market in both countries? Let’s have a look with BHO Network today!

On June 21, Vietnam and Singapore reached an agreement to establish a joint technical working group on Digital Partnership. This move is to evaluate the potential of a bilateral digital economy agreement between the two countries. This agreement happened during Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan’s official visit to Vietnam, to attend the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) High-level Policy Dialogue, from June 20-23. Both him and his Vietnamese counterpart, Mr. Bui Thanh Son, quickly reached said agreement before the big event.

Now, what will this mean for both countries? For Singapore, this is not the first agreement of this kind. The city-state has previously signed the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA) with Chile and New Zealand, and the Singapore-Australia Digital Economy Agreement (SADEA), both in 2020. Furthermore, South Korea and the UK have also engaged in negotiations with Singapore on digital partnerships, in June 2020 and June 2021 respectively.

Through these agreements, Singapore has aimed to enhance their positions as one of the big international and regional trade hubs in digital trade. With DEPA and SADEA, the goal was to set up standards and principles for emerging technology, such as AI. Then, SME’s participation in digital trade is encouraged via promoting interoperability of e-transactions. And finally, partners are able to sign modules they are ready for first, and they can commit to the rest once they are well-prepared.

Although this is not yet an official agreement with Vietnam, this still counts as a political win for Singapore. The country-state has successfully used diplomacy to shape new rules in the digital trade scene, despite its small size. And with Vietnam being one of the countries with the fastest growth in the region, especially in e-commerce in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important that Singapore has gained another ally of great potential.

As for Vietnam, this agreement can also be a great political and economic win. This partnership with Singapore could open new opportunities for Vietnam to join other partners in reshaping the regulations of digital trade in their favor. And, should this agreement happen, Vietnam will be the first country in ASEAN to partner with Singapore, giving the S-shape country a competitive advantage over Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, or the Philippines in the digitalization race.

Also, with the US attempting to reshape the global supply chain and returning to the Indo-Pacific region by fostering trade partners, this agreement could boost Vietnam’s potential to be the regional digital trade hub, elevating its position in the world’s supply chain. Economic benefits are expected to be enormous, estimated at about $42 billion to Vietnam’s economy by the year 2030.

So, what will this hold for cryptocurrency? Firstly, blockchain is one of the emerging technologies in the world, and in the region as well. Then, BHO Network has identified that SMEs, especially in ASEAN, are facing serious capital financing problems, and blockchain and cryptocurrencies are the legitimate solutions. Last but not least, with Singapore being a crypto friendly economy, and Vietnam is also researching cryptocurrency, it is looking quite good for the future of this technology should there be an agreement on digital trade between these countries.

Overall, this news is looking very promising for cryptocurrency users in the two countries. Hopefully, one day BHO tokens can be the medium for trade in the digital space between Vietnam and Singapore. Stay tuned, because BHO Network will update you on this trade in the future. See you next time!

References:

https://thediplomat.com/2021/06/vietnam-singapore-begin-negotiations-on-digital-trade-agreement/

https://en.vietnamplus.vn/vietnam-singapore-to-work-towards-bilateral-agrement-on-digital-economy/203404.vnp

https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/singapore-vietnam-to-set-up-working-groups-to-develop-agreements-on-digital-economy