Singapore is a pioneer in developing Digital Economy Agreements (DEAs), with one of the most extensive networks of such agreements worldwide. As cross-border trade becomes more digitised, governments face a growing challenge: how to govern areas such as paperless trade, data flows, digital payments, regulatory interoperability, SME participation, digital trust, and emerging technologies. DEAs address this challenge by going beyond the e-commerce and digital trade provisions typically found in conventional trade agreements, offering a more targeted framework for the digital

At the latest ACI’s webinar, “Assessing the Impact of Singapore’s Digital Economy Agreements,” researchers provided new evidence on how DEAs have impacted Singapore’s bilateral trade thus far. Using robust event-study designs and matched countries as control groups, the study empirically estimated the impact of DEAs on trade flows. The findings suggest that DEAs facilitate digital services trade within two years of implementation, with the sectors of Finance and Information & Communications Technology (ICT) benefiting the most.

Key Highlights:

1. Digital services trade has risen for DEA partners: Estimates suggest that Singapore’s digital services trade with DEA partners increased by around 20 percent after the agreements entered into force, compared with its trade with similar non-DEA partner economies.

2. Broader services trade effects remain limited: The results do not show clear evidence that DEAs have raised overall services trade, or that digital services have grown more strongly than non-digital services within the DEA parties.

3. Finance and ICT are the likely drivers: Among the four key digital services sectors, finance and ICT show the clearest evidence of trade gains linked to DEAs. This aligns with the prominent role that finance and ICT play within the digital economy. Meanwhile, charges for the use of intellectual property and insurance and pension services do not show evidence of a DEA-related boost.

By Mukund, KISHORE