Sarah Chen covers Southeast Asia’s technology, fintech, digital policy, and AI adoption landscape for RECATOOLS. Her work focuses on how regulation, platform shifts, and emerging technologies affect businesses, consumers, and digital markets across Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines.

20
Articles
ASEAN Tech
Primary beat
May 2026
Writing since
~116 min
Total reading
All 20 ASEAN Tech 15 AI & ML 3 Finance 2

Articles · ASEAN Tech Showing 11–15 of 15

Hanoi skyline with overlay of digital asset and banking symbols representing Vietnam's SME crypto collateral proposal
ASEAN Tech

Vietnam Proposes Crypto and Digital Assets as SME Loan Collateral in $144 Billion Credit Market

Vietnam's Ministry of Finance is consulting on draft legislation that would let SMEs pledge digital assets, virtual assets, and intellectual property as bank collateral — a structural fix for a credit market where 98% of businesses receive only 19–20% of total lending.

1 Jun 2026 · 5 min read
IBPAP President and CEO Jack Madrid speaking at the National AI and Skills Summit in Manila, June 2026
ASEAN Tech

IBPAP to Revise Philippines IT-BPM Roadmap as AI Outpaces 2022 Assumptions

IBPAP announced at the National AI & Skills Summit on 1 June 2026 that its 2022 industry roadmap — which projects USD 59 billion in revenue and 2.5 million workers by 2028 — will be revised after three years. AI has compressed timelines faster than the roadmap's original assumptions, and updated projections are expected within weeks.

1 Jun 2026 · 5 min read
Conceptual harbourfront-skyline image — illustrating Hong Kong, home city of the first astronaut in this report.
ASEAN Tech

Hong Kong's First Astronaut Is a Police Computer-Forensics PhD — and She's Now Aboard China's Tiangong Station

When Shenzhou-23 lifted off on 24 May 2026, one of the three people aboard was Lai Ka-ying — a serving Hong Kong Police superintendent whose 2011 doctoral thesis was titled "Profiling Internet Pirates." Hong Kong's first astronaut did not come up through an air-force cockpit. She came up through computer forensics.

30 May 2026 · 4 min read
MAS Issues Binding GenAI Banking Guidelines — Five-Bank Sandbox, Cross-Border Implications for ASEAN Finance
ASEAN Tech

MAS Issues Binding GenAI Banking Guidelines — Five-Bank Sandbox, Cross-Border Implications for ASEAN Finance

The Monetary Authority of Singapore published its long-awaited binding guidelines on generative AI use by banks on Tuesday. Five banks — DBS, OCBC, UOB, Standard Chartered and HSBC Singapore — enter the supervisory sandbox immediately.

20 May 2026 · 8 min read
Grab Rolls Out ML Dispatch v3 Across Six SEA Markets — Driver Earnings Up 4%, Indonesia Drivers Cry Foul
ASEAN Tech

Grab Rolls Out ML Dispatch v3 Across Six SEA Markets — Driver Earnings Up 4%, Indonesia Drivers Cry Foul

Grab's revamped dispatch system began rolling across Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines and Vietnam on Monday. Internal data shows 4% higher driver earnings on average, but Indonesia's driver unions say the new logic favours four-wheelers over motorcycle riders.

19 May 2026 · 8 min read
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