Latest Causes
EVENTS
Centre for Trade Excellence Supports ASEAN Strategic Trade Management Workshop in Tokyo
Singapore, 21 July 2026
The Centre for Trade Excellence supported the Second ASEAN Capacity Building Workshop on Strategic Trade Management, held in Tokyo from 7–9 July 2026, including through the design and facilitation of a tabletop exercise for ASEAN officials.
Co-hosted by the Philippines, through the Department of Trade and Industry–Strategic Trade Management Office (DTI-STMO), and Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), the workshop brought together ASEAN Senior Economic Officials, strategic trade management officials and international partners to strengthen regional cooperation on secure and responsible trade.
The workshop forms part of the Philippines' 2026 ASEAN Chairship Priority Economic Deliverable and supports ongoing work towards the proposed ASEAN Leaders' Declaration on Strategic Trade Management for Secure Regional Trade. It follows the inaugural ASEAN workshop held in Boracay in December 2025.
Testing cooperation in practice
A central part of the Centre's contribution was the design and facilitation of a tabletop exercise involving ASEAN officials.
Rather than approaching strategic trade management only as a question of laws and regulatory frameworks, the exercise placed participants in practical scenarios requiring them to consider how authorities might identify and respond to risks involving strategic goods and technologies.
ASEAN officials worked through questions of diversion, end-use and end-user risk, transshipment and information-sharing. The facilitated exercise, by our President and Dy President, examined what different authorities may know at different points of a transaction, where information gaps can arise, and how national agencies and regional counterparts can work together when no single authority has the complete picture.
This practical dimension is particularly relevant in ASEAN. Member States are at different stages in developing their strategic trade management systems and operate under different legal and institutional arrangements. Regional cooperation does not require those systems to be identical. It does require authorities to understand how their respective systems interact, what information can be shared, and where cooperation can make a practical difference.
The workshop forms part of the Philippines' 2026 ASEAN Chairship Priority Economic Deliverable and supports ongoing work towards the proposed ASEAN Leaders' Declaration on Strategic Trade Management for Secure Regional Trade. It follows the inaugural ASEAN workshop held in Boracay in December 2025.
Testing cooperation in practice
A central part of the Centre's contribution was the design and facilitation of a tabletop exercise involving ASEAN officials.
Rather than approaching strategic trade management only as a question of laws and regulatory frameworks, the exercise placed participants in practical scenarios requiring them to consider how authorities might identify and respond to risks involving strategic goods and technologies.
ASEAN officials worked through questions of diversion, end-use and end-user risk, transshipment and information-sharing. The facilitated exercise, by our President and Dy President, examined what different authorities may know at different points of a transaction, where information gaps can arise, and how national agencies and regional counterparts can work together when no single authority has the complete picture.
This practical dimension is particularly relevant in ASEAN. Member States are at different stages in developing their strategic trade management systems and operate under different legal and institutional arrangements. Regional cooperation does not require those systems to be identical. It does require authorities to understand how their respective systems interact, what information can be shared, and where cooperation can make a practical difference.
Strategic trade management and trusted trade
The wider discussions in Tokyo also reflected an important evolution in how strategic trade management is understood in the region.
Effective controls are necessary to prevent strategic goods, advanced technologies and software from being diverted for unauthorised purposes. But strategic trade management is not simply about restricting trade. Clear, predictable and well-administered systems can also support legitimate commerce, strengthen supply-chain resilience and give businesses and international partners greater confidence in the integrity of regional trade.
For ASEAN, this has a broader economic dimension. As technology supply chains become more complex and economic security assumes greater importance internationally, the ability to facilitate legitimate trade while managing strategic risk will increasingly form part of the region's competitiveness as a destination for trade and investment.
The Tokyo workshop concluded with a shared commitment to continue regional dialogue and capacity-building in support of ASEAN's work on strategic trade management.
The Centre is grateful to DTI-STMO and METI for convening the workshop, and to ASEAN Member States and international partners for the constructive engagement throughout the programme.
We look forward to continuing to support practical capacity-building and dialogue that strengthens secure, resilient and responsible trade across the region.
The wider discussions in Tokyo also reflected an important evolution in how strategic trade management is understood in the region.
Effective controls are necessary to prevent strategic goods, advanced technologies and software from being diverted for unauthorised purposes. But strategic trade management is not simply about restricting trade. Clear, predictable and well-administered systems can also support legitimate commerce, strengthen supply-chain resilience and give businesses and international partners greater confidence in the integrity of regional trade.
For ASEAN, this has a broader economic dimension. As technology supply chains become more complex and economic security assumes greater importance internationally, the ability to facilitate legitimate trade while managing strategic risk will increasingly form part of the region's competitiveness as a destination for trade and investment.
The Tokyo workshop concluded with a shared commitment to continue regional dialogue and capacity-building in support of ASEAN's work on strategic trade management.
The Centre is grateful to DTI-STMO and METI for convening the workshop, and to ASEAN Member States and international partners for the constructive engagement throughout the programme.
We look forward to continuing to support practical capacity-building and dialogue that strengthens secure, resilient and responsible trade across the region.
