Digital Strategic Partnership for Australian and South Asian Enterprises

Introduction

Australia has a unique geographical location and proximity to Asia which provides opportunities that Australian businesses can benefit. For many years Australia have been exporting minerals and agricultural products to Asian countries, but in recent times another bigger opportunity has risen which are Digital in nature. Australia has one of the advanced digital infrastructures that can easily connect to the Asian digital infrastructure, through which large volumes of trade and commerce can be exchanged. The case for digital access is clear. Businesses in Asia are undergoing rapid digital transformation. Digitization boosts social and financial inclusion as well as learning and health outcomes (Drees-Gross & Zhang 2021).

Handforth and Tan (2021) argue that successful implementation of any kind of infrastructure requires a comprehensive and strategic approach, and even more so for digital infrastructure. Unlike other more traditional infrastructure sectors, digital enterprise infrastructure requires coordination across many moving parts, from mobile spectrum allocations – the radio frequencies that enable mobile connectivity – to balancing the rights of landowners; policy and legislation to ensure that no one (and nowhere) is left unconnected and ensuring equitable access to – and ownership of – devices.

Duan et al (2021) and Westerman et al (2014) describe digital enterprise transformation — the use of technology to radically improve performance or reach of enterprises — is a hot topic for companies across the globe. Executives in all industries are using digital advances such as analytics, mobility, social media and smart embedded devices as well as improving their use of traditional technologies such as ERP to change customer relationships, internal processes and value propositions.

Ingram (2020) suggests that digital enterprise technology is disrupting traditional means of communications, business, learning, how we function at work and at home, and even governing. It is speeding up and deepening access to information and communications, reducing the cost of technologies, driving productivity, boosting efficiency, speeding innovation, accelerating economic growth, empowering financial inclusion, building innovative and resilient solutions, and facilitating government transparency and citizen-government interaction. Therefore, digital connectedness is a glue that is holding together different sections of community, society, enterprise, and the government.

Somani (2021) reports that over the coming years, the commercial world’s focus on connectivity will sharpen significantly as governments’ emphasis on building digital infrastructure continues to grow. The digital character of modern data makes infrastructure a prerequisite for collecting, exchanging, storing, processing, and distributing data. Harnessing the full economic and social value of modern data services calls for digital infrastructure that is universally accessible, while also offering adequate internet speed at affordable cost (World Development Report 2021).

ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) brings together ten Southeast Asian states – Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam – into one organisation. Australia became ASEAN’s first Dialogue Partner in 1974 and Australia became Strategic Partners in 2014 (DFAT, 2021). ASEAN is Australia’s second largest trading partner as a bloc and is essential to Australia’s economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic (DFAT, 2021). In 2019-20, Australia's trade with ASEAN countries was $113.7 billion, which is greater than Australia’s two-way trade with Japan and the United States. Australia’s two-way investment with ASEAN in 2019 was over $259 billion. Australia has strong trade links are supported by the regional and bilateral free trade agreements that act as pathways for Australian business to tap into ASEAN and the ASEAN Economic Community (DFAT, 2021).