Sithanonxay Suvannaphakdy (PhD) is an economist with more than seven years of research experience in regional economic integration, economic development, and public administration. His career has focused on research and project management in trade, economic development and sustainable development programs. These cover multiple scales, including project, program, national and regional scales. He works extensively with the private sector, public sector, bilateral development agencies and multilateral financial institutions.
From 2020-2023, he served as a Lead Researcher at the ASEAN Studies Centre, ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, where he undertook policy-oriented research on ASEAN’s economic integration with particular focus on ASEAN Economic Community (AEC).
Timor-Leste’s prospective ASEAN membership will potentially deliver both the benefits of expanded trade and losses in trade tax revenues. The latter can be avoided through a clear-cut strategy of tax reforms along with a trade-related adjustment programme.
Sithanonxay Suvannaphakdy and Pham Thi Phuong Thao discuss key challenges facing ASEAN in promoting digital supply chains amid the shift of multinational corporations’ (MNCs) operations to the region.
The ASEAN digital economy is running sub-optimally due to fragmented regulatory frameworks. Increased coherence will enable the region’s firms to break out of their local markets and raise revenues from the expansion of consumer markets.
Digital identification could be a silver bullet to increase tax revenues for ASEAN governments while pulling the region’s poorest out of poverty by redistributing wealth.
