More than 100 delegates from 21 APEC-member economies on Friday discussed the development of the internet and the digital economy at the 5^th meeting of the Ad Hoc Steering Group on the Internet Economy.

The meeting was held in HCM City within the framework of the third Senior Officials Meeting (SOM 3).

The group updated members on finalisation of a roadmap for APEC economies, created after the 4^th meeting of the ad hoc steering group held in May. It will be submitted to SOM for approval in November.

Digital growth is crucial for companies to remain competitive as they enter the globalised environment.

“At least 40 per cent of companies will die in the next 10 years if they don’t figure out how to change their entire companies to accommodate new technologies,” the committee chair, Karen Yeo of Singapore, said. “There can be no digital economy without security.”

She urged APEC member economies to keep in mind “how we can facilitate the process of review and update existing trade rules to catch up with the digital economy, what regulators can do to promote innovation”.

In addition tothe finalisation of the road map, ways forward for the future of the steering group were also discussed.

The two-day meeting will resume today.

The ad hoc steering group, established in July 2015, held its first meeting in Cebu, Philippines in September of that year. – VNS