ASEAN Tech

Indonesia Switched On a Marketplace Tax. Four Days Later It Switched It Off.

Indonesia's four largest marketplaces began withholding 0.5% of seller turnover on 1 August. The finance minister postponed the regime on 5 August, the tax office has since set a 1 November restart with refunds, and the four collector appointments are being revoked.

8 Aug 2026 · 7 min read

ASEAN Tech

Two MPs Asked What the Johor Rail Link Does to Singapore Retail. The Numbers Come Later

The government says the RTS Link brings net benefits and that its taskforce reports later this year. The projected effects on spending, costs, employment and visitor flows were not given.

8 Aug 2026 · 8 min read

ASEAN Tech

ASEAN Signs One Digital Rulebook in November. Its Members Keep Writing Their Own

DEFA negotiations concluded in May and signature is set for November. In the ten weeks between, five member states legislated separately in the areas it covers.

6 Aug 2026 · 8 min read

ASEAN Tech

Thailand Now Makes Data Centres Prove the Power Exists Before Approving Them

Since 30 March, a data-centre developer seeking Thai investment privileges must file a letter from the energy regulator confirming the electricity exists.

3 Aug 2026 · 8 min read

ASEAN Tech

ASEAN Tech Summit Convenes in Manila as the Region's Digital Trade Pact Heads for a November Signing

Organisers expected more than 4,000 delegates in Pasay City on 28–29 July, under the Philippine chairship. Negotiations on the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement closed in May; the signature is due in November, and the unfinished work is domestic.

2 Aug 2026 · 5 min read

ASEAN Tech

Southeast Asia's Tech Funding More Than Doubled. Take Out One Data-Centre Company and It Shrank

The region raised $7.4 billion in the first half, against $3.2 billion a year earlier. One Singapore data-centre operator accounted for $4.5 billion of it, and Singapore for 94 per cent of the whole.

1 Aug 2026 · 5 min read

ASEAN Tech

MAS Is Building an Institute to End the Pilot Era — Singapore's Bet That the Hard Part of Fintech Is Deployment

MAS announced on 25 June it will establish a Future of Finance Institute to move AI and tokenisation from experiments to production. It consolidates a decade of pilots — and stakes Singapore's fintech edge on execution, not novelty.

11 Jul 2026 · 6 min read

ASEAN Tech

Igloo Buys Eazy Digital in Its Second Thailand Move in a Year — a Bet on Insurtech Consolidation

Singapore insurtech Igloo has acquired Eazy Digital, a Singapore-headquartered insurtech with operations across Thailand and Asia, for an undisclosed sum, the company announced on 30 June 2026. The deal — Igloo's second Thailand transaction in twelve months — folds Eazy's agent-management platform and Thailand team into Igloo, with founder Harprem Doowa becoming Country Head of Igloo Thailand. It is a bet on Thailand's insurance-reform push and its large protection gap, and part of a broader consolidation as Southeast Asia's insurtechs buy capability and local presence to build regional insurance platforms — though Igloo is expanding while still loss-making.

9 Jul 2026 · 7 min read

ASEAN Tech

MAS Opens an AI-Themed 2026 Global FinTech Hackcelerator and SFF Excellence Awards

On 29 June 2026, the Monetary Authority of Singapore opened applications for the 2026 Global FinTech Hackcelerator and the Singapore FinTech Festival FinTech Excellence Awards, both closing 14 August. This year's edition is built around AI, with three AI-in-finance problem statements and a thematic Artificial Intelligence Champion award category.

2 Jul 2026 · 6 min read

ASEAN Tech

Vietnam Calls for a Connected ASEAN Fintech Ecosystem at the AFF 2026 — but the Standards Are the Hard Part

At an ASEAN Future Forum 2026 seminar in Hanoi, Vietnam's Deputy PM Nguyen Van Thang urged the region to connect its fintech ecosystems, not just its markets — proposing region-wide real-time payments, Open API standards, anti-fraud coordination and an 'ASEAN Fintech Sandbox.' The ambition is clear; the harder question is whether ten jurisdictions can harmonise the standards underneath it.

11 Jun 2026 · 7 min read