The Asean e-commerce treaty is a key element of the Asean summit in Singapore this week, and comes as Asean forms closer ties with the e-commerce industry through a memorandum of understanding with computer giant IBM to collaborate on technology developments in the region.
The effort has proved so successful that Unilever introduced a high-tech element: the Shakti entrepreneurs now run kiosks with personal computers which villagers can rent to send e-mails and browse the web for things that can make a big difference to their lives, like market prices.