Global Digital
The Digital Economy Partnership Agreement sets a new path for international cooperation. Read our recent op-ed published in The Straits Times.
Singapore Leads New Approach to Digital Trade
The Straits Times: Saturday, June 27, 2020
By Ambassador Robert Holleyman, president of C&M International, and Clark Jennings, managing director for C&M International’s Southeast Asia regional office in Singapore
On June 12, with the fitting stroke of their e-signatures in an online-only signing ceremony, the trade ministers for Singapore, New Zealand and Chile virtually inked a new trade agreement that will guide their multilateral cooperation on a wide range of emerging technologies and related digital trade issues.
The Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (Depa) is a first-of-its-kind, digitally focused trade agreement. Its goals are to enable seamless, end-to-end digital trade, facilitate secure cross-border data flows, and promote consumer trust in the broader digital ecosystem.
This innovative approach could harken a new era for trade negotiations and collaboration between like-minded partners on the issues defining the global digital economy. The United States – and its innovative, digitally intensive multinational companies operating in Asia – should take notice.
