Digital Dynamics and International Trade: Experiences of South and South-East Asia

The digital duo of the internet and mobile brought a sea change in production, economics, and marketing structures along with trade. A world that is not time and space-bound eased business and commerce by extending the time of operation and eliminating the geographical boundary that led to a boost in worldwide trade. Here, the impressive performance of the South and Southeast Asia regarding e-commerce earns a special mention. The article considers 18 countries (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam) belonging to South and South-East Asia along with China for six years (2009-2014) and opts for a panel data analysis to determine the impact of digitalization on international trade. The findings point to the fact that digitalization has a positive and statistically significant impact on trade volume.