Businesses are increasingly turning to Peer-2-Peer (P2P) financing to cater to their financing needs, with last week’s tie-up between Malaysia’s Funding Societies and regional e-commerce giant Lazada a perfect example of the current revolution taking place. P2P financing platforms such as Funding Societies connect credit-worthy local micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) with individuals and institutional investors through a digital marketplace, significantly increasing access

Frustrated by how long it took for that t-shirt or pair of shoes you ordered from Shopee or Lazada to arrive?

ASEAN’s attractive investment market, along with an expansive digital environment has led to the emergence of a vibrant start-up ecosystem across the region.

Despite the various challenges facing retailers across the region, The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands continues to be one of ASEAN’s premier shopping destinations.The luxury mall beneath what is perhaps Singapore’s most famous building – the Marina Bay Sands hotel – The Shoppes’ nearly 800,000 square feet of retail space occupied by brands such as Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Chanel attracted a daily average of 120,000 shoppers last year.Unaffected by the sluggish global economy and the reg

ASEAN is set to become the world’s fourth largest economy by 2030, and it is a transition that will be championed by an increasingly tech-savvy younger population which is rapidly rising up the socio-economic ladder.

Southeast Asia is home to over 245 million Muslims who observe the fasting month of Ramadan. The holy month is rooted in culture, faith and tradition and is dedicated to reflection and prayer, after which Muslims celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr with family, friends and of course, sumptuous food. Ramadan is usually a lucrative sales period for retailers, due to consumers actively purchasing food, gifts, apparels and decorative items in preparation for Eid.

In December, it was revealed that the government of Thailand had passed a bill that it hoped would ensure more effective tax collection, especially from e-commerce businesses.

As we enter the Fourth Industrial Revolution and practically everything is moving online, the importance of e-commerce is heightened now more than ever before. E-commerce, in fact, is quickly becoming the primary mode of business and trade around the world - ASEAN included. When speaking of trade in and around ASEAN, there is little doubt that China and its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) comes to mind.

Mobile is the future, and this is especially the case in ASEAN member states. As a matter of fact, e-commerce logistics management platform, Parcel Perform, recently noted that emerging markets like Myanmar and Thailand are seeing rapid growth in mobile marketing.

Malaysia’s tech start-up community now has a home to call its own with the launch of the HLX on Thursday, an integrated innovation centre for start-ups to collaborate with corporates to get access, coaching, funding and mentoring in one space.Housed within Menara HLA, an office tower in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, the 250,000 square foot HLX is backed by Malaysian conglomerate Hong Leong Group and is a private-public partnership (PPP) with the Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC).&