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KUALA LUMPUR, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) must strengthen its cybersecurity to fully benefit from the region's burgeoning digital sector, which is expected to receive a further boost with the anticipated finalization of the Version 3.0 China-ASEAN Free Trade Area (CAFTA), experts say.

Secure digital services, particularly in cross-border payments and financial services, will help build consumer confidence across the region, boost participation in the digital economy, and mitigate losses from cybercrime, Ong Tee Keat, president of the Belt and Road Initiative Caucus for Asia Pacific, said in his remarks at the forum "Unpacking the emerging challenges in cyber governance across ASEAN" here on Friday.

"The upcoming CAFTA 3.0 is set to focus on digital economy, green transformation, and electronic commerce, where digital trade in particular looks set to hatch a vast market potential. That being said, the promising turf is not risk-free... Criminal activities ranging from online scams to organized transnational crimes such as cyber-enabled human trafficking are blatantly exploiting digital vulnerabilities and regulatory gaps across the region," he said.

Ong noted that the grouping is actively working to address these threats through a collective strategy focused on regional cooperation and capacity building. Key initiatives, including the ASEAN Cybersecurity Cooperation Strategy (CCS) 2021-2025, set the stage for promoting cyber readiness, strengthening regional policy coordination, and enhancing trust and international collaboration.

Professor Selvakumar Manickam, director of the Cybersecurity Research Center at Universiti Sains Malaysia, cautioned that a lack of openness and integration between national-level agencies in charge of cybersecurity is hampering efforts to build resilience against cybercrime, and this problem is magnified at the regional level.

"If ASEAN countries are unable to integrate the efforts of their agencies at the local level, imagine the problem at the international level. There is the desire for each agency to hold onto its own data and work in a silo. This prevents wide-ranging and effective solutions and countermeasures from being formulated and implemented... There must be a change in mindset," he said.

"There should also be a shift in how we approach cybersecurity. We need to be proactive and not reactive. Instead of waiting for cyberattacks and trying to figure out a response, we need to foresee vulnerabilities and prepare for threats even before they occur. There needs to be hardening and fortification of digital infrastructure at the local and regional levels if ASEAN is truly aiming to unlock its digital economic potential," he added.

For her part, Farlina Said, director of cyber and technology policy at the Institute of Strategic &International Studies (ISIS) Malaysia, said that while ASEAN has made some progress in intra-regional cooperation and other strategic plans, the grouping must identify, prioritize, and fast-track objectives that will bring about desired outcomes rapidly.

"Policy harmonization goes beyond cybercrime laws. We are looking at legal policies that could allow for information sharing between ASEAN states. We need to think about what types of information would be useful, how to collate them, and what clearinghouse mechanisms are needed," she explained.

"Moving forward, ASEAN must be realistic about what it is trying to achieve, and focus on the goals that will enable the building of responsible regional and state behavior that is desired," she added.

Boualaphiane Sisouk, deputy head of the International Relations Department at the Faculty of Law and Political Science, National University of Laos, mentioned that ASEAN must evaluate the success of its current strategy while embracing the opportunities and challenges posed by emerging technologies and geopolitical dynamics.

"A proactive, adaptive, and collaborative approach will be critical in ushering in the next phase of ASEAN's cybersecurity journey," she added.

The forum brings together academics, government officials and other analysts to deliberate on the progress of cybersecurity enhancement across ASEAN, as well as issues of economic integration and sustainability in the context of digital-centric policy.