Perhaps one of the most widely discussed challenges that comes with a growing global e-commerce sector is the challenge of taxing that industry.

Southeast Asia is home to some of the world’s fastest expanding economies, with a combined economy about the size of the United Kingdom’s (UK’s) or US$2.6 trillion. Armed with a younger, urbanised and more affluent consumer base, the region continues to grow at a phenomenal pace. In 2017, the regional gross merchandise value (GMV) of first-hand goods surpassed US$10 billion, up from US$5.5 billion in 2015.

Singapore is putting together the final few pieces of its e-payment infrastructure jigsaw puzzle with the introduction of the Singapore Quick Response (SGQR) code. As SGQR is rolled out over the next six months, store merchants will only need to display one single QR code that will work with all the payment vendors they have signed up with. Gone will be the days when they need to display a different code for each vendor.Cashless transactions are gaining pace in the region.

The Electronic Transactions Development Agency’s (ETDA) latest report has revealed that the market value of business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce in Thailand ranked the highest in Southeast Asia at US$23.3 billion in 2017.

Jack Ma is making plans for a future after Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., the business he co-founded and turned into Asia’s most valuable company.Ma will unveil succession plans Monday and work on the transition over a significant period of time, according to the South China Morning Post, the Hong Kong newspaper owned by Alibaba.

Southeast Asia continues to be urbanising at a rapid pace. Alongside this phenomenal growth, a younger and increasingly wealthier urban consumer base with bigger spending power has been steadily growing. This growth is set to boost the online consumer sector even more as the rapid use of technology is poised to add another facet to how citizens in the region shop.

Google’s latest move of investing in Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com reveals that the company is stepping up its game to make inroads in Asia. On Monday, tech conglomerate Google announced a strategic partnership with JD.com, China’s second-largest e-commerce company. Also known as Jingdong, JD.com generated over US$55 billion in revenue last year and currently boasts over 300 million active users. The company is currently the biggest competitor to Jack Ma’s Alibaba.

When the region’s internet penetration rate started to grow in the mid-2000s, many users in Southeast Asia started yearning for their very own “Amazon”, an e-commerce site where they could simply place an order online and have their goods delivered to their doorstep. Fast forward to 2018, and their dreams have come true with Lazada. The popular e-commerce portal currently serves six markets in Southeast Asia with millions of users.

e-Commerce is now in fashion. The Fourth Industrial Revolution has seen many sweeping changes take place in the tangible market, with Southeast Asia’s internet economy growing exponentially. In the region, e-Commerce transactions have leapt from US$5.5 billion in 2015 to US$7.9 billion in 2017. By 2025, the industry is projected to reach US$88.1 billion, attaining the status as the most valuable segment in the Southeast Asian internet economy.

Indonesia, home to roughly 6 percent of Facebook Inc.'s users, isn't happy with the social-media giant. Officials there are even threatening to shut the service down after its latest egregious privacy scandal.That sounds like an ominous threat - but it's empty. In Indonesia, as across the developing world, Facebook is no longer just a platform for sharing photos and news.