When Singapore took over the chairmanship of Asean at the start of this year, one of its priorities was to boost the digital economy and e-commerce among members of the grouping. On the eve of the Asean Summit this week, a major step was taken towards the fulfilment of that promise. After nine rounds of negotiations, the 10 members of Asean signed the first Agreement on Electronic Commerce, which could pave the way to build the region into an e-commerce powerhouse. E-commerce has already taken off in Asean. Seven out of the 10 "unicorns" that the grouping has produced - that is, companies valued at US$1 billion (S$1.38 billion) or more - have been e-commerce companies.

Many have become household names, including Grab, Go-Jek, Sea, Lazada and Tokopedia. Hundreds of smaller e-commerce players have also proliferated across the region. But for all that, Asean e-commerce is still in its infancy.