2017 was an exciting year for the e-commerce landscape in Southeast Asia.

Technology, since its genesis, has been changing the face of business especially in retail. There has been a shift of power from brands to consumers who now have more information and more options to work with when making a purchasing decision before buying online. By 2020, digital commerce in the ASEAN region is expected to grow exponentially to reach US$32 billion in the next 3 years, according to Accenture.

Internet commerce or e-commerce across Southeast Asia last year was worth US$50 billion according to a 2017 Google Temasek report. It is also predicted that Southeast Asia’s internet economy will grow to US$200 billion by 2025 driven mostly by the growth of online travel, e-commerce and online media.

The competition between ride-hailing apps in the region could slowly become a one horse-race as the tech world has been rocked with rumours of Uber exiting the region. The speculation began after Japan’s SoftBank made a US$1.25 billion investment in Uber that effectively made them the company’s largest shareholder.

We outlined in Part 1 how e-commerce taxes are likely to affect the Southeast nations of Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia. Since e-commerce is transnational by nature, a few technical issues also surface when redefining conventional taxation laws to suit a more international context. It is, however, possible to look at what different jurisdictions have done so far.

Part 1: The need for e-commerce taxes in local economies  The introduction of e-commerce taxes in Singapore is very likely, a Bloomberg survey conducted between 12 economists in February 2018 concluded. Singapore’s next budget tabling, scheduled to take place on 19 February, is anticipated to provide for the taxation of online vendors operating within that region.

One of the biggest online retailers on the planet, Amazon is looking to creep into the burgeoning Southeast Asian e-commerce market. According to a TechCrunch report in November 2016, Amazon have been covertly buying assets and making new hires in the region. The report mentioned that Amazon’s plans in the region are led by Steven Scrive, head of Business Development in ASEAN. Singapore witnessed their first move into the region last year with the launch of Amazon Prime in the country.

With a growing internet user base and a digital economy that is said to be worth US$50 billion last year alone by Temasek and Google, it is no wonder digital wallets or e-wallets are taking off in the region. Digital wallets allow users to keep their credit cards and bank accounts electronically safe. An e-wallets allows you to make payments on e-commerce websites and also in real-life through QR codes or near field communication (NFC).

The 2016 We Are Social’s special report on digital opportunities in Southeast Asia revealed that over half of Southeast Asia’s population is on the internet. This number is significant because it indicates that half the population have the opportunity to immerse themselves in the digital economy and participate in buying and selling things online, using digital wallets and so on.

The company with the biggest grip on Thailand’s brick-and-mortar retail market is expecting a partnership with China’s JD.com Inc. to help it do the same in online sales.Central Group, which controls Thailand’s biggest operator of shopping malls and department stores, expects online sales to account for as much as 15 percent of its revenue in five years, from 2 percent now.