Critical Success Factors for Data Governance of Cross-border e-Trade Data Among ASEAN Member States

Global trading partners continue to adopt increasingly more multilateral and regional trade agreements amidst an overwhelmingly paperless and digital landscape. This can create useful trade alliances and increased efficiencies of digitization, but world trade is still plagued by the near absence of a uniform, harmonised customs and clearance protocol systems which trading partners accept and adhere to. Historically, customs forms and documentation requirements all differ from one nation to the next, and from one trading bloc to another. Un-uniformity in this area thwarts swift and cost-saving exchange of goods. The EU, North America and the northern Asian nations of Japan, China and South Korea have created various constructs to rectify digital trade dissonance. Southeast Asia famously began construction of the ASW (ASEAN Single Window), a single portal protocol intended to harmonise digital trading throughout the process from origin to destination, and its various successes and continuing challenges will be explored in this article. This research article focuses on and explores critical success factors for better governance of cross-border trade in the ASEAN region by conducting a systematic literature review of data governance related to electronic data exchanges by cross-border trading partners. This study uses a realistic approach while attempting to provide a clear view of the overarching picture of the trade world’s digital exchange challenges.