ERIA Research Project Report FY 2024 no. 21 - India–ASEAN Cooperation Pilot Study on Digital Public

Table of Contents

• Table of Contents 3
• List of Tables 5
• List of Figures 5
• List of Abbreviations 7
• Executive Summary 10
• Chapter 1 13
• Introduction 13
• 1. Economic Cooperation through Digitalisation 13
• 2. India and Southeast Asia: Historical and Economic Ties 14
• 3. Business-to-Business Cooperation between India and Southeast Asia 14
• 4. Digitalisation and Cultural Exchange 15
• 5. India and Southeast Asia: Cultural Bonds 15
• 6. Challenges and Opportunities 15
• 7. Outcomes from the 20th ASEAN–India Summit 16
• 8. Key Elements of the India–ASEAN Relationship 17
• Chapter 2 18
• DPI: Overview and Cross-Country Comparison 18
• 1. Status of Digital Public Infrastructure in ASEAN Member Countries 18
• 1.1. Government IDs 18
• 1.2. Real-Time Digital Payments 19
• 1.3. Data sharing and Open banking 21
• 2. Country-Specific Overview of Digital Public Infrastructure in ASEAN 22
• 2.1. Brunei 23
• 2.3. Indonesia 25
• 2.4. Lao PDR 26
• 2.5. Malaysia 27
• 2.6. Myanmar 27
• 2.7. Philippines 28
• 2.8. Singapore 29
• 2.9. Thailand 29
• 2.10. Timor Leste 30
• 2.11. Viet Nam 31
• 3. Digital Public Infrastructure Development Priorities for Each ASEAN Country 32
• Chapter 3 34
• Evolution of DPI in India 34
• 1. Introduction 34
• 2. Government-led DPI Initiatives 35
• 2.1. Aadhaar: Comprehensive Biometric Identity System 35
• 2.2. The Jan-Dhan Scheme: Universal Financial Inclusion through Bank Accounts 35
• 2.3. The Public Finance Management System (PFMS) 36
• 2.4. Direct Benefits Transfers 37
• 3. Central Bank Led Fintech and DPI Initiatives 39
• 3.1. Unified Payments Interface: A Low-Cost Bank-to-Bank Payments System 39
• 3.2. The Business Correspondent Model: Bringing Financial Services to Unbanked Areas 41
• 3.3. Payment Banks 41
• 3.4. Small Finance Banks 42
• 3.5. Account Aggregator 42
• 4. Market-Led Fintech and Financial Services Initiatives 44
• 4.1. Paytm payments wallet 44
• 4.2. Leveraging Mobile Technology for Digital Transactions 45
• 4.3. Jio mobile and broadband 46
• 4.5. Accelerating credit penetration through FinTech NBFCs 48
• 5. Civil Society-Led Reforms 50
• 5.1. Implications of the September 2018 Aadhaar Ruling by the Supreme Court 50
• 6. Summary of India’s DPI capabilities 50
• 6.1. Case Study: MOSIP | Digital ID systems for all governments 52
• 7. Guiding principles of India’s design for other countries 53
• 7.1. Interoperability 53
• 7.2. Minimalist and Reusable Building Blocks 53
• 7.3. Diverse and Inclusive Innovation 54
• 7.4. Federated and Decentralised Design 54
• 7.5. Security and Privacy by Design 54
• Chapter 4 55
• Regulatory Policies and Initiatives: India and ASEAN 55
• 1. Digital Policies 55
• 2. Data Privacy and Localisation 56
• 3. Digitisation of Trade 56
• 4. International and Regional Agreements 57
• 5. Digital Economic Framework Agreement  58
• 6. ASEAN and India DPI collaboration in Securities Markets 61
• 6.1. Listing of ASEAN securities on GIFT city exchanges 62
• 6.2. Setting up of a banking unit at GIFT city by ASEAN countries 63
• Advantages of an IBU at GIFT 63
• 7. ASEAN-India Fund for Digital Future 65
• 8. Capacity Building 65
• 9. Conclusions 67
• Chapter 5 69
• Recommendations 69
• 1. Digital Public Infrastructure 69
• 2. Trade and Economic Integration Enhancements 73
• 3. Roadmap 73
• References 78
• Endnotes 83