On 30 March, over 60 representatives from government and industry across the UK and ASEAN came together to discuss the new UK TradeTech Lookbook for the ASEAN Region (https://bit.ly/4rKauE8) and explore ways technology can make trade easier, cheaper and faster.
 
It is clear that TradeTech is already helping reduce paperwork, cut delays, and lower costs, especially for small businesses. While UK funded pilots in countries like Singapore and Thailand show what is possible, the real challenge now is scaling these solutions across the region.
 
His Majesty’s Trade Commissioner for Asia Pacific, Martin Kent, stressed the need to digitise trade to reduce fragmentation and improve efficiency. From an ASEAN perspective, the ASEAN Foundation Executive Director, Dr. Piti Srisangnam, PhD highlighted key barriers for small businesses, including fragmented systems, paper-based processes, limited access to finance for MSMEs, logistics inefficiencies, and complex regulations. A panel of regional trade experts—including ASEAN Business Advisory Council Executive Director, Rifki Weno; Associate Dean for Research and Innovation at Teesside University, Professor David Hughes; and Co-Founder of PrimaTrade, @Kris van Broekhoven—discussed practical, scalable ways and approaches to adopt TradeTech across ASEAN. Solving these requires strong partnerships, shared standards, and tools that are simple to use.
 
This is where the UK TradeTech Lookbook for the ASEAN Region comes in—not just as a showcase of UK capability but as a practical bridge to connect ASEAN’s clear demand with solutions. The UK TradeTech Lookbook offers stakeholders in the region a tangible tool to help deliver real results.