(AseanAll)  — Timor-Leste Vice-Prime Minister, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, and Minister of Tourism and Environment, Francisco Kalbuadi Lay, led the Timor-Leste delegation at the Pre-Summit Forum on the Prospects and Strategic Cooperation of the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement (DEFA), held in Hong Kong, China, on September 7th, 2026.

Organised by the ASEAN–Hong Kong Economic and Trade Centre (AHKETC), the Forum brought together government representatives, authorities, experts, financial institutions and private-sector representatives to examine prospects for implementing DEFA and opportunities to deepen digital economic integration in the region.

The session featured an address by ASEAN’s Secretary-General, Kao Kim Hourn, who presented ASEAN’s vision for regional integration and highlighted DEFA as one of the instruments for the region’s digital transformation. According to the projections presented, the implementation of the agreement could help the ASEAN digital economy reach up to US$2 trillion by 2030.

Discussions focused on two main areas: building an operational architecture for an integrated ASEAN digital economy and developing trusted digital infrastructure to support regional economic activity. Topics included digital trade, cross-border payments, data flows, financial technologies, online safety, cybersecurity, and emerging digital technologies, including artificial intelligence.

The Forum also examined opportunities for cooperation between ASEAN and Hong Kong under DEFA, particularly to strengthen interoperability of digital and financial systems and to facilitate e-commerce, digital trade and data flows between the two economies.

The national delegation included the Governor of the Central Bank of Timor-Leste, Hélder Lopes, along with members of the Government and the National Parliament. The Governor also took part in a panel discussion on building digital financial networks linking banks and markets, and on mechanisms to make cross-border payments and transactions more efficient.