Asia’s digital rise has been happening at scale for years and no slowdown is expected for the foreseeable future. Its resilience has been laid bare during the tariff wars we’ve watched unfold since the start of 2025.
While global trade growth slowed last year, in the first half of 2025 exports of AI-related goods surged 20 per cent year-on-year according to the WTO and Asia contributed nearly two-thirds of this expansion. This momentum is built on strong foundations. ICT goods continue to comprise a bigger share (22.5 per cent in 2024) of Asia’s exports than any other region, Unctad data shows. In short, Asia’s digital transformation is moving towards digital dominance.
This shift is driven first by countries moving up the value chain across different industries. Taiwan and South Korea have led the way in a region-wide shift away from…
