Jakarta, May 8 -- Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto conveyed that member countries have agreed to finalize negotiations on the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement (DEFA) during the 27th ASEAN Economic Community Council (AECC) meeting in Cebu, Philippines.

Based on this agreement, the regional digital economy framework is targeted for signing in November 2026 at the ASEAN Summit.

"All ASEAN member countries are keen to finalize all the substance of the negotiations by the 21st (final) Round in May 2026. Our target is that the DEFA agreement must be signed in November of this year, after the legal scrubbing process and domestic consultations in each country," he said in a statement on Thursday....