ASEAN E-Commerce Database Project 2010 Report

THE ASEAN E-COMMERCE DATABASE PROJECT

Ref No: DTI/ASEANTELSOM/01

PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION:

THE DEPARTMENT OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY
THE COMMISION ON INFORMATION AND
COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY
AND SUPERIUS CORPORATION

Project Consultant: Dustin B. Andaya
Project Manager: Alvin M. Juban

November 2010

PREFACE

In the March 2008 meeting of the ASEAN Working Group on E-Commerce and ICT Trade Facilitation, it
was deemed that there is no overall and comprehensive picture of the state of E-Commerce within
the ASEAN region. It was observed that there are only bits and pieces of information generated and
maintained by different organizations in each member-country.

The group agreed that there is a need to develop a project to establish an ASEAN E-Commerce
database, in order to gather and consolidate sufficient and comprehensive information on the state E-
Commerce activities within ASEAN. Moreover, it was determined that it is necessary to have a
common means of evaluating and measuring the level of accomplishment in the implementation of E-
Commerce, which would help ASEAN benchmark itself against other markets.

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Philippines, as the implementing agency for this project
in line with its mandate under Sec. 29 of the Electronic Commerce Act of 2000 (Republic Act No.
8792), has undertaken the project on behalf of the ASEAN Telecommunications and ICT Senior
Officials’ meeting (ASEAN TELSOM).

Ref No: DTI/ASEANTELSOM/01 – Superius Corporation
3

PROJECT SUMMARY

Superius Corporation developed a logistically viable research approach that could be managed with
the cooperation of Responsible Agencies across all ten member states. All Responsible Agencies were
assigned by the ASEAN TELSOM Focal Point groups, in cooperation with the TELSOM Leaders and
communicated through the ASEAN Secretariat.

As Responsible Agencies were identified from each member-nation, each was supplied with a
Research Manual containing the prescribed methodologies, reportorial requirements and
questionnaire, survey guides, and online document guides.

The project was executed using four (4) research instruments namely:

 Country Profile (Form A) - To gather basic Country Data

 E-Commerce Indicators (Form B) - To gather key E-Commerce indicators

 Consumer Survey - Individual’s usage based on consumer application perspective

 Business Survey - Business/corporate usage and utilization

Forms A & B were pre-filled by the Consultant requiring only a review and research effort to fill-in
country specific items.

The prescribed medium of the Consumer Survey was through an Online Survey application although
the Agencies that chose to engage it opted for the use of a paper-based delivery system. A
Complementary Online Consumer Survey was launched by Superius to supplement and support the
research efforts across all agencies.

The Business Survey was successfully executed by some Agencies and provides insight into Business
Executives’ perspective of Industry practice with regards to E-Commerce usage of the Internet.

These four (4) instruments are tools used for the unified presentation of data as prescribed by the
ASEAN TELSOM. Hence, this report will provide the results required to give a uniform overview of E-
Commerce activity across the ASEAN.

4

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We would like to acknowledge and extend our gratitude to the following people who made the
engagement and completion of this project possible:

HON. IVAN JOHN E. UY
Secretary and Chairman
Commission on Information and Communications Technology
Philippines

HON. RAY ANTHONY C. ROXAS-CHUA III
Former Secretary and Chairman
Philippines

HON. MONCHITO B. IBRAHIM
Commissioner
Philippines

HON. THOMAS G. AQUINO
Former Senior Undersecretary
Department of Trade and Industry
Philippines

ANGELO TIMOTEO M. DIAZ DE RIVERA
Former Commissioner/Director General
National Computer Center
Philippines

PHILIP A. VARILLA
Director
Policy, Planning and Research Support Service
Philippines

MARIA LOURDES A. YAPTINCHAY
Director
E-Commerce Office
Philippines

MARIA CRISPINA S. REODICA
Chief Trade and Industry Development Specialist
E-Commerce Office
Philippines

5

NUR SULYNA ABDULLAH
Director, International Affairs
Malaysian Communications and Multimedia
Director, ASEAN ICT Centre
Malaysia

MIMA SEFRINA
Technical Officer
Infrastructure Division
ASEAN Economic Community Department
ASEAN Secretariat

PROJECT TEAM

DUSTIN B. ANDAYA JAN DELA PEÑA
Project Director & Lead Consultant Researcher
GlobEra
ALVIN M. JUBAN
NORBERTO L. SILVA
Project Manager
Senior Programmer & Developer

MELANY G. MERCADO
DR. LEONARDO R. GARCIA JR.
Technical & Research Coordinator
Chief of Research
GlobEra
MARIVIC I. GARCIA
ARGEE L. BUSTAMANTE
CATHY M. LICAS
PEDRO Q. ZUNO
Researcher
JOHN JOBIE B. BAÑEZ
GlobEra
Senior Technical Staff

CONTRIBUTORS

BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Superius Corporation

PAUL S.A. HUBBARD MBE
Managing Director
YES Group, Manila - Hong Kong - Barcelona
www.YESpayments.com

JANETTE C. TORAL
Digitalfilipino.com

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RESPONSIBLE AGENCIES

Country Responsible Agency Focal Point

Brunei Noradhlina Prof. Madya Dr Hj Hashim Mr. Wallace Koh Hoe Aik
Darussalam Haji Zaini Bin Haji Pungut
Mr. Hamdani Gani
Cambodia Ms. Le May Phoeung Mr. Leng Sreng
Mr. Sar Ratana
Mr. Sithy Sieng
Indonesia Mrs. Sri Cahaya Khoironi Ms. Sofi Soeria Atmadja
Mr. Noor Iza Mr. Sri Sunardi
Lao PDR Mr. Sirithip Souksavath Mr. Snith Xaphakdy
Mr. Chaleun Sibounheuang
Malaysia Mr. Lee Soon Hoe Mr. Mohamad Akbar Hj Mahbat
Mr. Lee Soon Hoe
Ms. Farhana Shabbdin
Myanmar Mr. Kyaw Oo Mr. U Naing Lin
Mr. Than Htun Aung
Philippines Ms. Maria Lourdes Yaptinchay Mr. Philip Varilla
Singapore Ms. Rachelle Lee Ms Evelyn Goh
Ms. Melinda Tan Ms. Rachelle Lee
Ms. Lina Chua
Thailand Ms Phontip Warungyooratana Ms Tip-arpa Thiralitkamhang
Ms. Thasawan Samorwong
Viet Nam Dr. Le Quoc Hung Mr. Trieu Minh Long
Dr. Ho Sy Loi Mr. Nguyen Thanh Nam

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents
PREFACE .............................................................................................................................................................3

PROJECT SUMMARY ...........................................................................................................................................4

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................................................................5

PROJECT TEAM ...................................................................................................................................................6

CONTRIBUTORS ..................................................................................................................................................6

RESPONSIBLE AGENCIES .....................................................................................................................................7

TABLE OF CONTENTS ..........................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................................10

A. OBJECTIVES ..............................................................................................................................................11

B. SCOPE & LIMITATIONS .............................................................................................................................12

C. RESEARCH FINDINGS: THE STATE OF ASEAN E-COMMERCE ......................................................................13

1. Population & Internet Users ................................................................................................................13

2. ASEAN Population & Internet Penetration ...........................................................................................14

3. ASEAN Population & Internet Users .....................................................................................................16

4. ASEAN Population Internet Users, Percentages ...................................................................................17

5. Internet Penetration: vs. Benchmarks ..................................................................................................19

6. Population and Internet User Composition: vs. Rest of the World........................................................20

7. Economic Conditions Affecting E-Commerce Take-Up..........................................................................21

8. Effect of Infrastructure and ICT Indicators............................................................................................24

9. Top Websites in ASEAN ........................................................................................................................27

10. Facebook Facts ................................................................................................................................30

D. RESEARCH FINDINGS: CONSUMER INSIGHTS ............................................................................................31

1. The Respondents’ Profile .....................................................................................................................31

8

2. Time Spent Online ...............................................................................................................................32

3. Access ..................................................................................................................................................33

4. Frequency of Activities .........................................................................................................................35

5. Email, Search Engine & Web Ownership Preferences ...........................................................................40

6. Online Purchasing ................................................................................................................................44

7. Barriers to Online Purchase .................................................................................................................46

8. Online Banking Perceptions .................................................................................................................47

E. RESEARCH FINDINGS: BUSINESS CONSUMER INSIGHTS ............................................................................53

F. RESEARCH FINDINGS: ONLINE SHOPPING PREFERENCES ..........................................................................55

1. Purchased Items ..................................................................................................................................55

2. Media Options .....................................................................................................................................61

3. Other Purchase Options .......................................................................................................................61

G. DATA SUMMARY ......................................................................................................................................63

H. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ...............................................................................................68

1. Conclusions ..........................................................................................................................................68

2. Recommendations ...............................................................................................................................69

3. Recommendations for Future Studies ..................................................................................................70

I. LIST OF TABLES & FIGURES .......................................................................................................................71

1. Tables ..................................................................................................................................................71

2. Figures .................................................................................................................................................71

J. ANNEXES ..................................................................................................................................................72

1. References ...........................................................................................................................................72

2. List of Abbreviations ............................................................................................................................72

Note: ANNEXES has been compiled separately and will be submitted as an attachment to this report.

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INTRODUCTION

The Internet has sparked a revolution of information and communications technology (ICT). This new
digital environment has changed the way people view, access and deliver information. ICT and the
tools that support it enabled consumers to acquire a vast landscape of advance and real-time
communications; paperless and borderless transactions; easy and available access to comprehensive
references; increased market networking; an elevated selling and advertising medium; and an
innovative recreation and entertainment environment.

In this study, the Internet readiness and usage related to E-Commerce was examined according to
individual’s usage based on consumer application perspective and some highlights on
business/corporate usage and utilization when information was available.

This data was levied against each Country Profile in combination with additional E-Commerce
indicators to create a basic measurement standard for the ASEAN member nations. Many of these E-
Commerce indicators were gathered from reliable sources and studies made around the world. This
data set was aligned with most prominent views of E-Commerce descriptions, particularly with
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); allowing benchmarking against
the non-ASEAN market. Several economic indicators were also compiled and used alongside the E-
Commerce Indicators to provide a more in depth view of the state of E-Commerce within the region.

Lastly, this consolidated report made use of surveys to add a behavioral dimension to the database.
1
The Consumer Market section of this report used a snowball research survey aiming to capture a
“best practice” 600-respondent consumer survey. To supplement the effort, a unified Online
Consumer Survey (English only) was also launched by the Consultant to aid each Responsible Agency
to achieve best practice levels. The Business Survey is a purposive survey that used the telephone, fax
and email as an interview medium to target 100 corporate Internet users among the top 1,000
companies within each economy.

1
Snowball sampling is a well-known, nonprobability method of survey sample selection that is commonly used to locate hidden
populations. This method relies on referrals from initially sampled respondents to other persons believed to have the characteristic of
interest. Limitations of this approach include nonrandom selection procedures, correlations between network size and selection
probabilities, reliance on the subjective judgments of informants, and confidentiality concerns. Advantages include cost and efficiency.
Snowball Sampling, Johnson, July 2005.

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A. OBJECTIVES

The objective of the project as stated in the official tender is as follows:

“To establish an ASEAN E-Commerce database - in order to gather and
consolidate sufficient and comprehensive information on the state E-
Commerce activities within ASEAN.”

The database shall serve as a common means of evaluation as well as measurement of the level of
accomplishment in the implementation of E-Commerce. This shall help ASEAN benchmark against
other markets.

To achieve this goal, the Consultant aimed to deliver the following:

 The establishment of a baseline for measuring E-Commerce readiness across the ASEAN;
 The development of a practical methodology model for data collection applicable across
the ASEAN;
 To provide the cooperating agencies of the ASEAN with this data collection model for
simultaneous gathering of information and;
 Finally, to upload the findings to the ASEAN online database.

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B. SCOPE & LIMITATIONS

It was imperative to give the research design qualities that make it implementable across ASEAN
member economies that vary widely in financial and logistical capabilities. The research focused on
the most crucial data that will yield a definitive gauge for E-Commerce readiness across the ASEAN
membership base.

Regardless of how data was collected, the final result was fixed upon the degree of cooperation of all
stakeholders to implement the methodology and plans set forth by Superius Corporation.

Responsible Agencies vary in human resources and relative experience in actual field research. As
such, a “mobilization period” was instituted prior to the official start of all data gathering activities.

For effective data gathering, the implementation plan was focused and designed for simple execution.
Only the crucial and basic indicators were identified, key to creating a database collection method
that is practical to implement across all ASEAN Member economies.

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C. RESEARCH FINDINGS: THE STATE OF ASEAN E-COMMERCE

1. POPULATION & INTERNET USERS

With more than 600 million people, the ASEAN region is a formidable presence in the Internet. As of
2010, it represents around 9% of the world’s population and its Internet users represent
approximately 6% of all Internet users worldwide - this shows clear potential for active E-Commerce
activities. Figure 1 (Below) shows the number of Internet users in each ASEAN country.

Figure 1: Internet Users per ASEAN Member State. IWS 2010 est.
*Updated through The Ministry of Posts and Communications, Cambodia.

Among the ASEAN countries; Indonesia, the Philippines and Viet Nam lead the way in terms of
Internet users with approximately 30, 29, and 24 Million users respectively. The Table 2 (Below)
ranks each country in terms of its number of Internet Users.

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Internet Users Population
Rank Country
2010 2010
1 Indonesia 30,000,000 242,968,342
2 Philippines 29,700,000 99,900,177
3 Viet Nam 24,269,083 89,571,130
4 Thailand 17,486,400 66,404,688
5 Malaysia 16,902,600 26,160,256
6 Singapore 3,658,400 4,701,069
7 Lao PDR 527,400 6,993,767
8 Brunei Darussalam 318,900 395,027
9 Cambodia* 173,675 13,800,000
10 Myanmar 110,000 53,414,374

Table 1: Total ASEAN Internet Users ranked in descending order. IWS 2010 est.

2. ASEAN POPULATION & INTERNET PENETRATION

Internet penetration rates refer to the number of a country’s Internet users with reference to its
population. This measures a country’s success in getting its population to use the Internet. Table 3
(Below) shows the Internet Penetration Rates as a part of total population.

Population Internet Penetration Internet Users
Country
2010 2010 2010
Brunei Darussalam 395,027 81% 318,900
Cambodia* 13,800,000 1.3% 173,675
Indonesia 242,968,342 12% 30,000,000
Lao PDR 6,993,767 8% 527,400
Malaysia 26,160,256 65% 16,902,600
Myanmar 53,414,374 0.2% 110,000
Philippines 99,900,177 30% 29,700,000
Singapore 4,701,069 78% 3,658,400
Thailand 66,404,688 26% 17,486,400
Viet Nam 89,571,130 27% 24,269,083
ASEAN 604,308,830 20% 123,146,458

Table 2: ASEAN population and Internet Penetration. IWS 2010 est.

14

The table below ranks the economies from highest to lowest Internet penetrations rates:

Internet
Population Internet Users
Rank

Country Penetration
2010 2010 2010
1 Brunei Darussalam 81% 395,027 318,900
2 Singapore 78% 4,701,069 3,658,400
3 Malaysia 65% 26,160,256 16,902,600
4 Philippines 30% 99,900,177 29,700,000
5 Viet Nam 27% 89,571,130 24,269,083
6 Thailand 26% 66,404,688 17,486,400
7 Indonesia 12% 242,968,342 30,000,000
8 Lao PDR 8% 6,993,767 527,400
9 Cambodia* 1.3% 13,800,000 173,675
10 Myanmar 0.2% 53,414,374 110,000
ASEAN 20% 604,308,830 123,146,458

Table 3:Internet Penetration ranked in descending order. IWS 2010 est.

In this regard, Brunei Darussalam (81%), Singapore (78%), and Malaysia (65%) can be considered to be
the most successful in encouraging usage and providing its population with Internet access having the
highest Internet Penetration Rates.

15

3. ASEAN POPULATION & INTERNET USERS

Figure 2 (Below) shows a comparison between each ASEAN country’s contribution to the overall
population of the ASEAN bloc and the contribution of each ASEAN country in terms of Internet users.

Figure 2: ASEAN comparison of population vs. Internet Users

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4. ASEAN POPULATION INTERNET USERS, PERCENTAGES

Although Internet penetration in countries such as Brunei Darussalam and Singapore are high, they
contribute less than 4% of the all the online users in the region because of the relatively large
population of their neighboring countries. Indonesia, the Philippines, Viet Nam, and Thailand
contribute greatly to the number of Internet users in the region despite having lower Internet
penetration rates because of their large population. Figure 3 (below) compares the breakdown of the
ASEAN population against the breakdown of Internet users per country.

Figure 3: ASEAN breakdown in contribution to population vs. Internet users.

17

Table 5 (Below) shows the exact number of Internet users compared to the population of each
country as well as the total ASEAN Internet population and percentage breakdown in table form.

% of Total
Country Internet Users
2010 2010 2010
Brunei Darussalam 395,027 318,900 0.3%
Cambodia* 13,800,000 173,675 0.1%
Indonesia 242,968,342 30,000,000 24.4%
Lao PDR 6,993,767 527,400 0.4%
Malaysia 26,160,256 16,902,600 13.7%
Myanmar 53,414,374 110,000 0.1%
Philippines 99,900,177 29,700,000 24.1%
Singapore 4,701,069 3,658,400 3.0%
Thailand 66,404,688 17,486,400 14.2%
Viet Nam 89,571,130 24,269,083 19.7%
ASEAN 604,308,830 123,146,458 100.0%
Table 4: Internet Users per Country and % of total. IWS 2010 est.

Clearly, the potential for E-Commerce will depend greatly on the ability of highly populated ASEAN
countries to increase Internet penetration rates.

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5. INTERNET PENETRATION: VS. BENCHMARKS

The ASEAN region still lags behind the United States (US), European Union (EU), Republic of Korea
(ROK), Japan (JPN) and China (CHN) in terms of Internet penetration. As a group, the ASEAN surpasses
both Japan and ROK in terms of number of Internet users. The population size of the ASEAN region
shows potential to overtake the US and to an extent, even the EU, if Internet penetration rates surpass
50% of the total population. Figure 4 and Table 6 (Below) compare the benchmark regions compared
to the ASEAN.

Figure 4: Composition of Population vs. Internet Users for benchmark blocs/countries

Population Internet Penetration Internet Users
Country/Bloc
2010 2010 2010
ASEAN 604,308,830 20% 123,146,458
CHN 1,330,141,295 32% 420,000,000
EU 499,671,847 68% 337,779,055
JAP 126,804,433 78% 99,143,700
ROK 48,636,068 81% 39,440,000
USA 310,232,863 77% 239,232,863

Table 5: Table form for Figure 4 (above). IWS 2010 est.

19

6. POPULATION AND INTERNET USER COMPOSITION: VS. REST OF THE
WORLD

While the ASEAN region comprises over 9% of the world population, its 123,050,783 Internet users
only comprise 6% of the world Internet users due to lower overall penetration rates. Figure 5 shows
the ASEAN contribution to overall world population and number of Internet users in graph and table
form. (Table 7)

Bloc
2010 2010
ASEAN 604,308,830 123,146,458
Rest of World 6,240,347,810 1,843,464,033
TOTAL 6,844,656,640 1,966,610,491

Figure 5: ASEAN percentage of population and Internet Users
Table 6: ASEAN totals of population & Internet users vs. Rest of the World. IWS 2010 est.

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7. ECONOMIC CONDITIONS AFFECTING E-COMMERCE TAKE-UP

Higher GDP per capita countries such as Brunei Darussalam, Singapore and Malaysia have higher
Internet penetrations rates. Lower GDP countries such as Cambodia, Lao PDR and Myanmar have
lower Internet Penetration Rates. However, for the mid GDP per capita countries, there seems to be
no direct correlation between GDP per capita and Internet penetration. The Philippines, Viet Nam
and Thailand, for example, have similar Internet penetration rates despite having a prominent
disparity in GDP per capita. Table 8 shows the correlation between Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per
capita and Internet penetration rates.

GDP GDP/Capita Internet
Country (US$ million) (US$ PPP) Penetration
2009 2009 2010
Brunei Darussalam 14,146.7 49,267 81%
Cambodia* 10,368.2 1,802 1.3%
Indonesia 546,527.0 4,175 12%
Lao PDR 5,579.2 2,431 8%
Malaysia 193,107.7 13,594 65%
Myanmar 24,972.8 1,093 0.2%
Philippines 161,357.6 3,525 30%
Singapore 182,701.7 49,766 78%
Thailand 264,322.8 8,072 26%
Viet Nam 96,317.1 3,068 27%

Table 7: ASEAN Economic indicators and Internet penetration in percent

21

Table 9 attempts to suggest a possible reason for low Internet penetration by showing GDP per capita
and minimum wages alongside annual Internet costs per country. As defined, Internet Costs is the
average costs of Internet access for 20 hours in a month. The wide variations of Internet costs
monthly may be because some countries such as the Philippines, Thailand and Malaysia offer popular
“prepaid” or “pay as you go” plans that allow users to pay for the exact hours they spend online. This
may be a reason for higher Internet penetration rates even in low GDP per capita countries.

GDP/Capita Min. Wage Internet Cost
Country/Bloc (US$ PPP) High Range/Annual (US$) Annual (US$)

2009 2006-2010 2005-2006
Brunei Darussalam 49,267 - 223
Cambodia 1,802 600 396
Indonesia 4,175 1,344 220
Lao PDR 2,431 - 331
Malaysia 13,594 5,832 91
Myanmar 1,093 - 556
Philippines 3,525 2,956 24
Singapore 49,766 24,533 258
Thailand 8,072 2,247 89
Viet Nam 3,068 626 125
Table 8: ASEAN GDP per capita, minimum wage (annual), and Internet Cost (annual).
ASEAN, WDI, Department of Labor and Employment Philippines, July 2010 and ITU 2008.

Note: Internet Cost- Price basket x 12 mos. for Internet is calculated based on the cheapest
available tariff for accessing the Internet 20 hours a month (10 hours peak and 10 hours off-peak).
Nationmaster.com, Source: ITU 2008

22

As expected, high GDP per capita countries in the benchmark group have higher Internet penetration
rates as shown in Table 10.

GDP GDP/Capita Internet
Country/Bloc (US$) (US$ PPP) Penetration
2009 2009 2010
Brunei Darussalam 14.1 B 49,267 81%
Cambodia* 10.3 B 1,802 1.3%
Indonesia 546.5 B 4,175 12%
Lao PDR 5.5 B 2,431 8%
Malaysia 193.1 B 13,594 65%
Myanmar 24.9 B 1,093 0.2%
Philippines 161.3 B 3,525 30%
Singapore 182.7 B 49,766 78%
Thailand 264.3 B 8,072 26%
Viet Nam 96.3 B 3,068 27%
ASEAN 1.4 T 4,829 20%
CHN 4.9 T 6,600 32%
EU 14.4 T 32,500 68%
JPN 5.1 T 32,700 78%
ROK 1.4 T 28,100 81%
USA 14.1 T 46,000 77%

Table 9: Economic indicators, Internet Penetration vs. benchmarks. ASEAN 2009, IWS 2010

23

8. EFFECT OF INFRASTRUCTURE AND ICT INDICATORS

a. Fixed Telephone Lines

Availability of basic telecommunication devices such as fixed phone lines was a traditional measure of
the potential for Internet connectivity. However, the advent of wireless technology coupled with the
widespread use of mobile devices such as mobile phones, handhelds and mini laptops have changed
the way people access the Internet.

Brunei Darussalam 19.5
CHN 25.7

Cambodia 0.3 EU 45.6

JPN 37.9
Indonesia 13.4

ROK 43.9

Lao PDR 1.5
USA 50.9

Malaysia 15.9

Myanmar 1.4

Philippines 4.3

Singapore 40.2

Thailand 10.4

Viet Nam 32.8

Figure 6: Fixed telephone lines per 100 population, ASEAN vs. benchmarks (inset). WDI 2009 est.

Today, there is a diminishing correlation between the availability of fixed telephone lines and Internet
access. For developing countries, fixed telephone lines would be necessary to jumpstart Internet
access but through the Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, The Philippines, and Thailand
examples, it is clear that good Internet penetration rates can still be established even with basic fixed
telephone line infrastructure.

24

b. Mobile Phone and Personal Computer Usage

Availability of Mobile Phones and Personal Computers has also been a traditional gauge of potential
Internet access. As the main forms of Internet access, availability of one or the other can increase
Internet penetration rates.

CHN 48.4
Cambodia 29.1
EU 121.3
Indonesia 61.8
JPN 86.4
Lao PDR 23.8
ROK 93.8

Malaysia 100.4
USA 89

Myanmar 0.8

Philippines 75.4

Singapore 138.1

Thailand 117.3

Viet Nam 80.4

Figure 7: Mobile Phones per 100 population, ASEAN vs. benchmarks (inset). WDI 2009 est.

Many developing economies in the ASEAN have comparable mobile phone availability. As mobile
phone Internet access continues to improve, have the potential to become a primary way to access
the Internet in the ASEAN region.


CHN 5.7
Cambodia 0.4

EU 44
Indonesia 2

JPN 40.7
Lao PDR 1.7

ROK 57.6
Malaysia 23.1

USA 80.6
Myanmar 0.9

Philippines 7.2

Singapore 74.3

Thailand 6.7

Viet Nam 9.6

Figure 8: PCs Per 100 Population vs. Benchmarks (inset)

25

Availability of personal computers (Fig. 8, above) in ASEAN are generally low compared to developed
benchmarks such as the USA, EU, ROK and JPN.

c. Road Networks

The ratio of roads to the total area of the country may be used as an indicator of the capacity of E-
Commerce retail firms to deliver physical goods across the country. Table below shows the ratio of
roads for every square kilometer:

Road Length Total Land Area Roads per Area
Country (km) (km2) Ratio

2009 2009 2009
Brunei Darussalam 2,971 5,765 0.52
Cambodia 38,093 181,035 0.21
Indonesia 437,759 1,860,360 0.24
Lao PDR 29,811 236,800 0.13
Malaysia 98,721 330,252 0.30
Myanmar 30,902 676,577 0.05
Philippines 201,910 300,000 0.67
Singapore 3,356 710.3 4.72
Thailand 180,053 513,120 0.35
Viet Nam 222,179 331,051 0.67
TOTAL 1,245,755 4,435,670

Table 10: Capacity to deliver physical goods. ASEAN 2009

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9. TOP WEBSITES IN ASEAN

The top websites in the region may serve as a good indicator of the depth of E-Commerce activities in
the country. This part of the report aims to isolate the most viewed websites per country and
partially assess the preferences of ASEAN nations when it comes to Internet related activities. Table
12 (Below) shows the most viewed websites in each ASEAN economy.

Brunei Darussalam Cambodia Indonesia Lao PDR Malaysia
TOP SITES
www.facebook.com, www.google.com, www.facebook.com, NA www.facebook.com,
www.google.com.bn, www.yahoo.com, www.google.com.id, www.google.com.my,
www.youtube.com, www.facebook.com, www.google.com, www.yahoo.com,
www.yahoo.com, www.google.com, www.yahoo.com, www.google.com,
www.google.com, www.youtube.com, www.blogger.com, www.youtube.com,
www.live.com, www.dap-news.com, www.kaskus.us, www.blogger.com,
www.blogger.com, www.blogger.com, www.youtube.com, www.live.com,
www.msn.com, www.wikipedia.org, www.wordpress.com, www.wikipedia.org,
www.wikipedia.org, www.kohsantepheapd www.detik.com, www.maybank2u.my,
www.mediafire.com aily.com.kh, www.4shared.com www.msn.com
www.windows live.com

TOP RETAIL SITE
www.shopping.com.bn www.isale.com.kh www.amazon.com NA www.amazon.com
TOP LOCAL SITE
www.bruneidirect.com www.dap-news.com www.kaskus.us NA www.thestar.com.my

TOP BANKING / FINANCE / PAYMENT GATEWAY
www.paypal.com none in top 50 sites www.paypal.com NA www.maybank2u.my
TOP SEARCH ENGINE
www.google.com.bn www.google.com www.google.com.id NA www.google.com.my
TOP LOCAL NEWS / MAGAZINE SITE
www.bruneidirect.com www.dap-news.com www.detik.com NA www.thestar.com.my

27

Myanmar Philippines Singapore Thailand Viet Nam
TOP SITES
NA www.facebook.com, www.facebook.com, www.google.com.th, www.google.com.vn,
www.yahoo.com, www.google.com.sg, www.facebook.com, www.yahoo.com,
www.google.com.ph, www.yahoo.com, www.live.com, www.vnexpress.net,
www.google.com, www.youtube.com, www.google.com, www.zing.vn,
www.youtube.com, www.google.com, www.youtube.com, www.google.com,
www.blogger.com, www.live.com, www.sanook.com, www.facebook.com,
www.wikipedia.org, www.blogger.com, www.yahoo.com, www.dantri.com.vn,
www.twitter.com, www.msn.com, www.hi5.com, www.youtube.com,
www.friendster.com, www.wikipedia.org, www.blogger.com, www.24h.com.vn,
www.multiply.com www.twitter.com www.pantip.com www.mediafire.com

TOP RETAIL SITE
NA www.amazon.com www.amazon.com www.amazon.com www.enbac.com
TOP LOCAL SITE
NA www.sulit.com.ph www.hardwarezone.co www.sanook.com www.vnexpress.net
m.sg
TOP BANKING / FINANCE / PAYMENT GATEWAY
NA www.paypal.com www.dbs.com none in top 50 sites none in top 50 sites
TOP SEARCH ENGINE
NA www.google.com.ph www.google.com.sg www.google.com.th www.google.com.vn
TOP LOCAL NEWS / MAGAZINE SITE
NA www.inquirer.net www.hardwarezone.co www.sanook.com www.vnexpress.net
m.sg
Table 11: Top Websites in ASEAN. www.alexa.com 2010

a. Most Visited Websites in the ASEAN Region

The most popular websites in the ASEAN region are dominated by US-based websites such Facebook,
Google and Yahoo which dominate the top spots. YouTube, Blogger, Wikipedia, Live (MSN) also
occupy dominant positions in most of the ASEAN countries.

Among the ASEAN countries with recorded data, only Viet Nam has four local websites in the top ten
followed by Thailand with two local websites and Malaysia with one local website in the top ten lists.
All the ASEAN-based websites in the top ten lists are driven by local content. Technology-heavy
websites in the list such as search engines, social networks and high capacity networks are US based.

b. Benchmarking

In contrast, Asian economies such as Japan, ROK, and China many of the top ten websites are local.
ROK and Japan for example have local websites holding dominant positions. In China, local websites
outnumber US based websites.

c. Top Local Websites

Most of the top local websites are driven by local content such as news or local listings. It can be
noted that the top local websites in Brunei Darussalam and the Philippines are classified ad listing
sites that, in a broader sense, are E-Commerce websites.

28

d. Most Visited Retail Websites

In most ASEAN countries, Amazon.com of the US is the top retail website. Only Brunei Darussalam,
Cambodia and Viet Nam have local shopping/retail sites that have traffic greater than Amazon.com

e. Top Financial Websites

This indicator aims to extract the maturity of local online banking and financial services in each
country. Cambodia, Thailand and Viet Nam have no financial institution in their top 50 most viewed
websites.

Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia and the Philippines register US-based Paypal as the top finance-based
website, while Malaysia and Singapore have local financial institutions within their top 50 websites.
This is an indicator that financial transactions are actively taking place in these countries.

f. Top Search Engines and Directories

The ASEAN region is dominated by US-based search engines Google and Yahoo. This indicated that
technology-driven content services are still weak in the ASEAN region. Although information search,
in theory, can be dominated by localized services, ASEAN Countries still prefer to use foreign search
services.

g. Most Popular News Websites

All ASEAN countries recorded have a local news or magazine content website. This shows that content
is still best served on a local level with local content websites able to compete with top foreign sites.

Local content sites are of primary importance because this keeps advertising revenues within the
country of origin. Local content sites also have the ability to earn foreign advertising dollars from
companies wishing to advertise locally.

29

10. FACEBOOK FACTS

As one of the most visited websites in each ASEAN country, the number of Facebook user accounts is
an interesting and relevant way to compare the potential number of advertising audience through
this medium in each country.

The Table 13 shows exactly how much user accounts are reachable or accessible through Facebook:

Facebook Users
Country/ Bloc Accounts
2010
Brunei Darussalam 191,360
Cambodia 167,000
Indonesia 30,108,220
Lao PDR 30,620
Malaysia 8,893,160
Myanmar NA
Philippines 18,124,220
Singapore 2,424,780
Thailand 6,167,260
Viet Nam 154,800
ASEAN 66,261,420
CHN 3,565,700
EU 131,609,140
JPN 1,696,560
ROK 1,782,880
USA 143,583,400

Table 12: Number of Facebook accounts. www.facebook.com Nov 2010

Note: China figures composed mostly of Hong Kong based
users due to some restrictions in China’s Internet access for
websites such as Facebook.

30

D. RESEARCH FINDINGS: CONSUMER INSIGHTS

1. THE RESPONDENTS’ PROFILE

Most respondents to the survey were male except for Singapore, which had more female
respondents and Viet Nam that had an equal number of male and female respondents. A majority of
the respondents to the survey were married, while Thai and Vietnamese respondents had the fewest
single respondents. The survey attracted highly educated respondents mostly with College degrees
or higher. Income ranges of the respondents vary greatly from country to country depending on the
country’s economic status and most of the respondents also came from the urban sector.

Gender Marital Status
Brunei Darussalam 61% 39% Brunei Darussalam 55% 45%

Cambodia 82% 18% Cambodia 75% 25%

Indonesia 74% 26% Indonesia 76% 24%

Lao PDR 68% 32% Lao PDR 55% 45%

Malaysia 57% 43% Malaysia 66% 34%

Myanmar 60% 40% Myanmar 68% 33%

Philippines 51% 49% Philippines 71% 29%

Singapore 47% 54% Singapore 62% 38%

Thailand 51% 49% Thailand 78% 22%

Viet Nam 59% 41% Viet Nam 62% 38%

Male Female
Single Married

Place of Residence Education
Brunei Darussalam 77% 23% Brunei Darussalam 7.8% 35.3% 16.3% 35.3% 5.2%

Cambodia 88% 12% Cambodia 10.1% 48.0% 3.4% 30.4% 8.1%

Indonesia 76% 24% Indonesia 25.0% 51.1% 5.0% 11.1% 7.8%

Lao PDR 93% 7% Lao PDR 3.8% 50.6% 6.3% 31.6% 7.6%

Malaysia 75% 25% Malaysia 18.4% 36.8% 8.4% 20.5% 15.9%

Myanmar 88% 12% Myanmar 7.9% 39.5% 5.3% 36.8% 10.5%

Philippines 70% 30% Philippines 1.6% 52.0% 2.1% 21.9% 20.9%

Singapore 93% 7% Singapore 10.8% 40.5% 1.4% 44.6% 2.7%

Thailand 77% 23% Thailand 3.7% 51.7% 2.2% 39.3% 3.0%

Viet Nam 72% 28% Viet Nam 2.3% 82.7% 8.8% 2.3% 3.6%

Urban Rural
High School College Grad Voc/Tech School Post Grad Some College

31

Age

Brunei Darussalam Cambodia Indonesia Lao PDR Malaysia Myanmar Philippines Singapore Thailand Viet Nam
Under 18 1% 3% 5% 0% 3% 0% 0% 2% 0% 0%
18-23 16% 32% 41% 15% 40% 8% 29% 8% 18% 6%
24-30 41% 41% 31% 37% 17% 23% 26% 52% 29% 81%
31-36 22% 11% 14% 17% 9% 25% 16% 27% 22% 13%
37-42 7% 6% 6% 10% 9% 25% 12% 5% 12% 0%
43-48 7% 3% 2% 8% 11% 18% 7% 5% 7% 0%
49-54 6% 1% 1% 9% 4% 0% 5% 1% 9% 0%
55-60 1% 1% 0% 3% 3% 3% 4% 0% 3% 0%
Over 60 0% 0% 0% 0% 6% 0% 1% 0% 0% 0%

Income

USD$ 199 & below 4% 24% 51% 33% 26% 60% 32% 5% 20% 34%
USD$ 200-399 4% 27% 24% 20% 8% 24% 25% 1% 36% 31%
USD$ 400 - 599 4% 16% 11% 14% 8% 8% 17% 1% 16% 21%
USD$ 600 - 799 8% 7% 5% 2% 15% 5% 9% 0% 10% 7%
USD$ 800 - 999 8% 4% 3% 7% 17% 3% 6% 5% 6% 4%
USD$ 1,000 & above 72% 22% 6% 23% 26% 0% 12% 88% 12% 4%

2. TIME SPENT ONLINE

Most respondents from Singapore and Viet Nam spend more than 6 hours connected on the Internet
while the rest of the other members follow close behind with an average of over 3 hours. But when
asked about being “active” on the Internet, the average lies between 1 and 3 hours. The top activities
during these hours generally are for General Information Search, Connecting with Friends and
Entertainment.

Hours Online

1 -3 20% 54% 31% 38% 21% 46% 26% 12% 20% 16%
3-6 33% 22% 37% 35% 43% 32% 32% 16% 36% 33%
6 -10 24% 21% 18% 19% 26% 18% 23% 47% 26% 43%
10 -14 13% 2% 7% 4% 6% 2% 9% 18% 10% 8%
14 & up 10% 2% 8% 4% 5% 2% 9% 7% 9% 0%

Active Hours Online

1 -3 41% 74% 97% 62% 39% 74% 40% 23% 46% 50%
3-6 34% 11% 1% 28% 40% 14% 38% 41% 32% 47%
6 -10 15% 8% 0% 5% 8% 5% 12% 24% 4% 3%
10 -14 6% 2% 1% 5% 8% 7% 10% 12% 14% 1%
14 & up 4% 6% 0% 0% 5% 0% 0% 0% 3% 0%

32

Activities Online

General information search 90% 89% 83% 84% 89% 83% 96% 92% 80% 85%
Research/Academics 72% 61% 59% 48% 68% 38% 55% 57% 68% 64%
Work/Business 77% 63% 53% 63% 67% 65% 73% 86% 57% 64%
Entertainment 80% 64% 72% 61% 77% 48% 77% 84% 88% 81%
Connect with Friends 91% 84% 83% 78% 94% 69% 86% 90% 89% 92%
View catalogs Online/ Purchase Online 63% 18% 34% 24% 48% 19% 36% 59% 36% 39%

3. ACCESS

Most ASEAN countries access the Internet through the personal computer only. However, it is
important to note that more than 25% of respondents in all countries access the Internet through
both a personal computer and a mobile device showing a very important trend in the diversification
of Internet access from the traditional personal computer.

A number of the Internet users surveyed had no Internet connection at home indicating that they go
online using a work computer, a privately-shared computer, or an Internet café. More than 40% of
Myanmar’s Internet users do not have a connection at home. More than 10% of Cambodia,
Indonesia, and Lao PDR Internet users do not have a connection at home while the rest of the ASEAN
had less than 7% of which had no Internet connection at home. Nearly every online user in Brunei
Darussalam and Singapore has home based Internet connections.

33

Web Access

Brunei Darussalam 34% 6% 73%

Cambodia 66% 4% 35%

Indonesia 66% 8% 36%

Lao PDR 73% 4% 28%

Malaysia 73% 4% 28%

Myanmar 86% 4% 20%

Philippines 70% 1% 30%

Singapore 39% 8% 64%

Thailand 69% 4% 27%

Viet Nam 54% 1% 45%

PC/Laptop/Netbook Mobile Phone/Gadget (e.g. iPod, PSP) Both

34

Internet Connection

Wired and wireless broadband connections are the most dominant Internet connection used by more
than 40% of Internet subscribers in all countries.

Brunei Darussalam 3%
1% 14% 29% 52% 1%

Cambodia 17% 13% 23% 21% 24% 1%

Indonesia 13% 10% 35% 15% 26% 2%

Lao PDR 11% 17% 12% 24% 35% 2%

Malaysia 3%
3% 8% 40% 46% 1%

Myanmar 41% 13%2% 24% 20%

Philippines 6% 1% 4% 52% 35% 2%

Singapore 2% 12% 27% 57% 2%

Thailand 7% 8% 4% 52% 25% 1%

Viet Nam 6% 5%2% 40% 47%

None Dial-up Cable or ISDN Broadband - DSL Line Broadband - Wireless T1 or Faster

Singapore and Brunei Darussalam had the most number of respondents that access the Internet both
through a mobile device and personal computer. This is indicative of the Internet infrastructure and
availability of mobile Internet devices in the two countries. These two economies also represent the
largest GDP per capita and the smallest land areas among the ASEAN nations. The combination of
wealth with relatively smaller land areas to cover may be the reason for such high usage of mobile
devices.

4. FREQUENCY OF ACTIVIT IES

On a daily basis, Consumers across the ASEAN use the Internet for email, news, visiting social
networking sites, viewing photos and research.

Gaming is not a significant preference in Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Lao PDR and Myanmar.
Browsing for merchandise/services is only a second level daily preference for most countries except
for Indonesia and Viet Nam, while Singapore notes it is at least a once a week activity. Only 28% of
respondents from Singapore use the Internet for Job hunting once a month, and it is not a preferred
activity for all others.

Buying and Trading online, Job Hunting, and Banking rank as some of the least practiced activities on
the Internet among ASEAN countries. This shows that the Internet is primarily a social rather than a
business or transactional tool. It is highly possible that E-Commerce will always comprise of a small
share in the time spent on the Internet.

35

Following the example of more modern economies such as Singapore, the use of the Internet for
buying, banking or transactional purposes can be improved to a more significant level wherein 21%
buys/trades online and 37% bank at least once a month. If these figures are achieved in the highly
populated economies of the ASEAN, E-Commerce can become a significant transaction tool.

Detailed results per country are illustrated in the tables below:

Brunei Darussalam Daily 1/wk 2-3/wk 1/mo 2-3/mo Not at all
Check or send e-mail messages 89% 6% 4% 2% 1% 0%
Read online news or magazines 62% 13% 19% 3% 2% 4%
Look for job opportunities 6% 10% 10% 19% 13% 44%
Play games 28% 9% 16% 8% 15% 29%
Visit social networking sites 78% 8% 10% 1% 1% 3%
View photos/videos 55% 13% 21% 4% 5% 5%
Search or download files 31% 18% 25% 15% 6% 7%
Read/Write blogs 22% 16% 23% 14% 9% 20%
Visit retail sites looking for merchandise/ service 31% 33% 42% 43% 22% 30%
Buy/Trade online 10% 7% 13% 24% 16% 32%
Bank online/Pay bills 5% 9% 10% 33% 10% 36%

Cambodia Daily 1/wk 2-3/wk 1/mo 2-3/mo Not at all
Play games 17% 8% 7% 10% 12% 47%
Read/Write blogs 19% 22% 12% 15% 5% 29%
Buy/Trade online 7% 4% 2% 7% 5% 75%

Indonesia Daily 1/wk 2-3/wk 1/mo 2-3/mo Not at all
Play games 43% 12% 9% 5% 7% 25%
Read/Write blogs 34% 21% 13% 11% 4% 18%
Buy/Trade online 6% 6% 7% 18% 10% 54%

36

Lao PDR Daily 1/wk 2-3/wk 1/mo 2-3/mo Not at all
Play games 12% 17% 16% 8% 8% 39%
Read/Write blogs 22% 25% 16% 10% 9% 19%
Buy/Trade online 7% 5% 9% 9% 2% 68%

Malaysia Daily 1/wk 2-3/wk 1/mo 2-3/mo Not at all
Play games 32% 10% 12% 14% 11% 21%
Read/Write blogs 24% 19% 28% 10% 5% 14%
Buy/Trade online 7% 12% 19% 18% 12% 33%

Myanmar Daily 1/wk 2-3/wk 1/mo 2-3/mo Not at all
Play games 15% 5% 8% 8% 8% 58%
Read/Write blogs 26% 9% 16% 14% 14% 21%
Buy/Trade online 3% 3% 3% 3% 14% 75%

37

Philippines Daily 1/wk 2-3/wk 1/mo 2-3/mo Not at all
Play games 41% 7% 19% 9% 3% 21%
Read/Write blogs 17% 12% 24% 13% 12% 22%
Buy/Trade online 4% 4% 6% 19% 8% 59%

Singapore Daily 1/wk 2-3/wk 1/mo 2-3/mo Not at all
Play games 29% 17% 14% 11% 4% 26%
Read/Write blogs 19% 22% 8% 15% 14% 22%
Buy/Trade online 6% 12% 7% 21% 12% 41%

Thailand Daily 1/wk 2-3/wk 1/mo 2-3/mo Not at all
Play games 46% 14% 14% 5% 4% 20%
Read/Write blogs 32% 25% 16% 9% 7% 11%
Buy/Trade online 4% 14% 10% 18% 15% 40%

38

Viet Nam Daily 1/wk 2-3/wk 1/mo 2-3/mo Not at all
Play games 44% 12% 12% 10% 6% 18%
Read/Write blogs 44% 22% 8% 4% 10% 12%
Buy/Trade online 13% 11% 4% 11% 7% 53%

39

5. EMAIL, SEARCH ENGINE & WEB OWNERSHIP PREFERENCES

Gmail is top webmail, followed closely by Yahoo in the Philippines and Viet Nam while Hotmail is still
dominant in Thailand. When ranked according to preference, Google remains the top choice of
search engines with Yahoo and MSN/Bing as distant second and third choices. More than half of the
respondents report not owning or maintaining a personal or business website.

Detailed results per country are illustrated in the tables below:

Email Preference

40

Brunei Darussalam

Gmail 58%
Yahoo Mail 25%
Hotmail 54%

Gmail 69%
Cambodia

Yahoo Mail 55%
Hotmail 26%

Gmail 57%
Indonesia

Yahoo Mail 54%
Hotmail 9%

Gmail 54%
Lao PDR

Yahoo Mail 40%
Hotmail 49%

Gmail 61%
Malaysia

Yahoo Mail 41%
Hotmail 19%

Gmail 93%
Myanmar

Yahoo Mail 7%
Hotmail 6%

Gmail 29%
Philippines

Yahoo Mail 56%
Hotmail 11%

Gmail 65%
Singapore

Yahoo Mail 35%
Hotmail 42%

Gmail 30%
Thailand

Yahoo Mail 22%
Hotmail 43%

Gmail 39%
Viet Nam

Yahoo Mail 48%
Hotmail 11%

41

Brunei Darussalam

Yahoo 14%
Google 93%
Bing/MSN 11%

Yahoo 42%
Cambodia

Google 86%
Bing/MSN 14%

Yahoo 30%
Indonesia

Google 92%
Bing/MSN 0%

Yahoo 29%
Lao PDR

Google 95%
Bing/MSN 15%

Yahoo 49%
Malaysia

Google 63%
Bing/MSN 5%

Yahoo 24%
Myanmar

Google 94%
Bing/MSN 6%

Yahoo 31%
Philippines

Google 66%
Bing/MSN 3%

Yahoo 21%
Google 86%
Singapore

Bing/MSN 2%

Yahoo 2%
Google 95%
Thailand

Bing/MSN 3%

Yahoo 14%
Viet Nam

Google 86%
Bing/MSN 0%

42

Brunei Darussalam 1 2 3 NA Cambodia 1 2 3 NA
Gmail 58% 29% 7% 7% 69% 19% 8% 3%
Yahoo Mail 25% 30% 26% 20% 55% 38% 6% 1%
Hotmail 54% 26% 18% 3% 26% 15% 41% 19%
Indonesia 1 2 3 NA Lao PDR 1 2 3 NA
Gmail 57% 32% 8% 3% 54% 18% 19% 9%
Yahoo Mail 54% 40% 5% 1% 40% 38% 18% 4%
Hotmail 9% 13% 51% 27% 49% 33% 16% 1%
Malaysia 1 2 3 NA Myanmar 1 2 3 NA
Gmail 61% 27% 8% 4% 93% 4% 0% 2%
Yahoo Mail 41% 51% 6% 2% 7% 73% 13% 7%
Hotmail 19% 9% 62% 9% 6% 19% 63% 13%
Philippines 1 2 3 NA Singapore 1 2 3 NA
Gmail 69% 25% 0% 6% 65% 23% 6% 6%
Yahoo Mail 56% 44% 0% 0% 35% 39% 12% 14%
Hotmail 14% 0% 43% 43% 42% 29% 19% 10%
Thailand 1 2 3 NA Viet Nam 1 2 3 NA
Gmail 32% 44% 13% 11% 63% 26% 9% 3%
Yahoo Mail 14% 31% 28% 28% 58% 38% 4% 0%
Hotmail 74% 14% 10% 2% 13% 17% 17% 52%

Search Engine Preference

Brunei Darussalam 1 2 3 NA Cambodia 1 2 3 NA
Yahoo 14% 48% 24% 14% 42% 37% 12% 9%
Google 93% 5% 1% 1% 86% 10% 3% 1%
Bing/MSN 11% 27% 44% 18% 14% 16% 43% 27%
Indonesia 1 2 3 NA Lao PDR 1 2 3 NA
Yahoo 30% 70% 0% 0% 29% 35% 29% 6%
Google 92% 0% 8% 0% 95% 4% 1% 0%
Bing/MSN 0% 0% 100% 0% 15% 44% 29% 12%
Malaysia 1 2 3 NA Myanmar 1 2 3 NA
Yahoo 49% 40% 9% 2% 24% 67% 5% 5%
Google 63% 35% 2% 1% 94% 4% 0% 2%
Bing/MSN 5% 10% 75% 11% 6% 33% 56% 6%
Philippines 1 2 3 NA Singapore 1 2 3 NA
Yahoo 31% 63% 5% 0% 21% 58% 16% 5%
Google 66% 32% 15% 0% 86% 14% 0% 0%
Bing/MSN 3% 5% 92% 17% 2% 22% 66% 10%
Thailand 1 2 3 NA Viet Nam 1 2 3 NA
Yahoo 2% 51% 34% 17% 14% 61% 20% 9%
Google 95% 1% 3% 1% 86% 20% 0% 0%
Bing/MSN 3% 48% 29% 16% 0% 19% 80% 32%

Website Ownership

No 64% 67% 65% 72% 69% 80% 46% 69% 67% 64%
Yes, I maintain a
19% 18% 27% 12% 19% 15% 45% 20% 20% 27%
personal website
Yes, I maintain a
7% 5% 3% 7% 4% 2% 2% 6% 5% 8%
business website
Yes, I maintain both
a personal and 10% 10% 6% 8% 8% 2% 6% 6% 9% 2%
business website

43

6. ONLINE PURCHASING

Across the ASEAN, many consumers look at the Internet before purchasing in a retail store but a large
percentage across all countries has never purchased anything online. Among those who have
purchased online, many use online payment methods and a majority has bought something in the
past 3 months.

Considered purchasing item / service in retail store that was seen online.

Yes 82% 81% 80% 89% 63% 70% 80% 87% 78% 82%
No 18% 19% 20% 11% 37% 30% 20% 13% 22% 19%

Has Purchased Online

Yes 80% 29% 47% 36% 50% 22% 43% 82% 66% 57%
No 20% 71% 53% 64% 50% 78% 57% 18% 34% 43%

Purchased item/ service online using site's online payment system (Among those who purchased
online)

Yes 85% 75% 72% 81% 75% 60% 80% 87% 78% 59%
No 15% 25% 28% 19% 25% 40% 20% 13% 22% 41%

Last Online Purchase (Among those who purchased online)

Within the last 3
75% 70% 69% 69% 51% 36% 70% 73% 76% 59%
months
Within the last 6
9% 13% 17% 11% 26% 9% 0% 21% 10% 15%
months

Among online buyers, only Viet Nam predominantly uses cash when buying online. Indonesia uses
Debit/ATM cards and Money Transfer equally. The rest of the ASEAN economies prefer to use credit
cards.

Mode of Payment Used

Credit Card 79% 62% 34% 63% 67% 63% 40% 92% 56% 19%
Debit Card/ATM Card 26% 32% 46% 31% 31% 63% 30% 31% 36% 42%
Money transfer/
Remittance/ Bank 16% 22% 46% 23% 22% 0% 50% 23% 53% 39%
deposit
Virtual wallet 6% 6% 8% 6% 5% 0% 0% 10% 2% 0%
Cash 19% 22% 18% 23% 13% 38% 30% 14% 25% 58%
Check 2% 10% 1% 9% 3% 0% 0% 0% 3% 8%

44

When asked about the preferred mode of payment, online buyers in all countries except Indonesia
and Viet Nam (prefers Money Transfer and Debit cards respectively) prefer credit cards.

Preferred Mode of Payment

Credit Card 65% 59% 21% 53% 54% 43% 50% 74% 40% 16%
Money transfer/
Remittance/ Bank 3% 10% 38% 12% 13% 0% 20% 10% 24% 16%
deposit
Virtual wallet 3% 2% 5% 3% 2% 0% 0% 3% 0% 0%
Cash 7% 6% 8% 12% 4% 14% 0% 3% 10% 24%
Check 1% 4% 0% 0% 0% 14% 0% 0% 2% 0%

Among those who use online banking viewing transaction history seems to be the most common
although all standard online banking activities seem to be utilized.

Type of Online Banking Transactions Used

View my transaction
93% 82% 75% 91% 81% 100% 100% 100% 75% 81%
history
View my statement of
account (for credit 93% 67% 46% 86% 83% 67% 80% 83% 56% 81%
cards/loans)
Pay bills online 79% 47% 43% 64% 85% 67% 40% 81% 63% 57%
Transfer money
66% 65% 70% 91% 62% 67% 80% 89% 75% 71%
between accounts

High GDP per capita countries such as Brunei Darussalam, Singapore and Malaysia have a substantial
majority of Internet users using online banking.

Uses Online Banking

Yes 61% 32% 35% 24% 63% 12% 28% 83% 52% 48%
No 39% 68% 65% 76% 37% 88% 72% 17% 48% 52%

45

7. BARRIERS TO ONLINE PURCHASE

Besides not having tried purchasing online in the past, trust related issues (such as trust in online
vendor, credit card safety) along with lack of more information and convenience (faster to buy offline)
are the major barriers to online purchase.

Not applicable 22% 33% 24% 31% 15% 49% 36% 20% 19% 23%
Don't trust vendor 38% 37% 24% 23% 32% 6% 18% 13% 55% 46%
Never tried it 57% 53% 44% 54% 44% 24% 46% 33% 32% 36%
Don't trust that my
credit card number will 38% 46% 31% 22% 24% 6% 27% 7% 42% 18%
be secure
Too complicated to
place order. No receipt/ 14% 29% 20% 15% 18% 6% 9% 0% 13% 5%
documentation
Faster/easier to
purchase locally or in 27% 19% 20% 14% 32% 12% 18% 33% 36% 41%
the store
Slow Internet
8% 22% 19% 26% 20% 18% 0% 0% 16% 5%
connection
Not enough information
to make a decision
11% 34% 28% 28% 32% 15% 9% 7% 42% 41%
Not familiar with
27% 20% 24% 25% 30% 9% 18% 7% 23% 27%
vendor
Generally
uncomfortable with the 19% 22% 15% 20% 23% 9% 36% 20% 19% 14%
idea

46

8. ONLINE BANKING PERCEPTIONS

The online banking question aims to measure the concerns of online banking customers. The
following tables show the perception of the respondents from each country.

Not at all Not like Like me Just like
Brunei Darussalam
like me me me
I'm worried that my internet speed will
affect my online banking transactions. 14% 29% 31% 26%
I'm worried that my online bank may
15% 30% 37% 19%
not process payments correctly.
I'm worried that I may lose money due
to careless mistakes such as sending
the wrong amount or sending money to 13% 27% 44% 17%
the wrong account.

I'm worried that in case of transaction
errors, my bank would not be able to 14% 30% 40% 17%
help me.
It would take me a lot of time to learn
43% 46% 9% 2%
how to use online banking.
I'm worried that unauthorized people
may be able to access my account. 15% 27% 44% 15%

I do not feel secure sending
17% 28% 41% 15%
sensitive/private information online.
I never had the opportunity to do
online banking. 68% 30% 1% 1%

47

Cambodia
like me me me

11% 42% 38% 9%
the wrong account.

help me.
33% 43% 21% 2%

13% 23% 40% 25%

Indonesia
like me me me

18% 38% 38% 5%
the wrong account.

help me.
31% 37% 27% 5%

13% 21% 54% 12%

48

Lao PDR
like me me me

18% 46% 36% 0%
the wrong account.

help me.
45% 40% 15% 0%

sensitive/private information online. 24% 38% 29% 10%
48% 43% 10% 0%
online banking.

Malaysia like me me me
affect my online banking transactions.
15% 50% 23% 12%

not process payments correctly. 12% 50% 26% 12%

the wrong account.
help me.
how to use online banking. 58% 31% 10% 2%


12% 48% 29% 10%

49

Myanmar
like me me me

not process payments correctly. 100% 0% 0% 0%
the wrong account.

help me.
100% 0% 0% 0%

0% 0% 0% 100%
100% 0% 0% 0%
online banking.

Philippines
like me me me
40% 20% 40% 0%
the wrong account.

help me.
60% 20% 20% 0%

0% 20% 60% 20%

50

Singapore
like me me me

16% 36% 42% 6%
the wrong account.

help me.
48% 48% 3% 1%

10% 48% 38% 4%

51

Thailand
like me me me

9% 36% 42% 12%
the wrong account.

help me.
30% 33% 30% 6%

9% 21% 58% 12%

Viet Nam
like me me me

21% 37% 37% 5%
11% 39% 44% 6%
the wrong amount or sending money to
the wrong account.
help me.
33% 39% 28% 0%
21% 21% 47% 11%
may be able to access my account.
11% 50% 28% 11%

52

E. RESEARCH FINDINGS: BUSINESS CONSUMER INSIGHTS

Most employees in top corporations have access to the Internet with email being the primary use.

Most respondents say that the Internet is very important in day to day operations of the company but
according to them, less than half of their revenues can be directly attributed to the use of the
Internet. Efficiency is the largest motivation for using the Internet.

1. Proportion of employees with Internet Access Myanmar Philippines Singapore Viet Nam
A. More than 90% 14% 38% 81% 43%
B. More than half but less than 90% 26% 22% 15% 17%
C. Around Half 17% 26% 0% 9%
D. Less than half but more than 10% 23% 12% 4% 26%
E. Below 10% 20% 2% 0% 5%

2. Company prescribed use of the Internet Myanmar Philippines Singapore Viet Nam
A. Email 39% 32% 26% 26%
B. For research, prospecting, news… 18% 17% 22% 23%
C. Entertainment 6% 0% 3% 12%
D. Recruitment of employees / Job posting 2% 1% 14% 3%
E. Online Banking / Financial Services 6% 20% 5% 3%
F. For maintaining our Company Website 8% 5% 14% 16%
G. Purchase of goods or services 9% 4% 3% 4%
H. Selling of goods or services 8% 13% 5% 4%
I. Online Advertising and Promotion placements 3% 8% 9% 9%
J. We don't use the Internet 0% 0% 0% 0%

3. Description of Corporate Internet usage Myanmar Philippines Singapore Viet Nam
A. Crucial to the operation of company 12% 43% 53% 14%
B. Very Important in day-to-day operations 52% 48% 40% 44%
C. We use it often but not significantly 27% 4% 5% 26%
D. We use basic functionalities 9% 4% 2% 16%
E. We can do without it 0% 1% 0% 1%

53

4. Top 3 Corporate Internet Usages Myanmar Philippines Singapore Viet Nam
A. Email 38% 33% 32% 35%
B. For research, prospecting, news… 19% 12% 26% 15%
C. Recruitment of employees / Job posting 2% 0% 3% 4%
D. Online Banking / Financial Services 5% 0% 1% 3%
E. For maintaining our Company Website 5% 23% 20% 20%
F. Purchase of goods or services 15% 2% 0% 6%
G. Selling of goods or services 13% 4% 4% 5%
H. Online Advertising and Promotion placements 2% 17% 7% 12%
I. We don't use the Internet 0% 8% 0% 0%
J. Others 0% 0% 7% 0%

5. Approximate annual company revenue attributed to
Myanmar Philippines Singapore Viet Nam
the use of the Internet.
A. More than 90% 0% 0% 3% 2%
B. More than half but less than 90% 9% 3% 23% 8%
C. Around Half 25% 6% 26% 6%
D. Less than half but more than 10% 28% 28% 31% 22%
E. Below 10% 13% 58% 11% 62%
F. None 25% 5% 6% 0%

6. Company Motivation for Internet Use Myanmar Philippines Singapore Viet Nam
A. Image 19% 14% 16% 18%
B. Efficiency 68% 49% 68% 58%
C. Savings 6% 16% 9% 17%
D. Profit 6% 21% 6% 7%

7. In your opinion, what is your company’s greatest
Myanmar Philippines Singapore Viet Nam
Barrier in using the Internet in business?
A. Security 25% 23% 45% 4%
B. Fraud 0% 9% 6% 6%
C. Misuse of personal and company information 28% 11% 6% 2%
D. Virus 33% 24% 13% 59%
E. Expense 3% 13% 8% 9%
F. Employee use for personal / non-official matters. 11% 18% 23% 20%

54

F. RESEARCH FINDINGS: ONLINE SHOPPING PREFERENCES

The following tables show the most popular online shopping items among Internet users in the ASEAN
region. The online shopping preference within in each country is quite varied. Generally however,
the travel industry (flights and hotels), clothing, and book industry is a favorite in most countries
while groceries and household items seems to be the least purchased online.

1. PURCHASED ITEMS

Brunei Darussalam

Airline Tickets / reservations 63%
Tours / Hotel reservations 57%
Clothing / Accessories/ Shoes 48%
Computer Software 45%
Videos, DVDs, Games 45%
Books, magazines, or other reading materials 44%
Music or CD’s 39%
Computer Hardware 38%
Electronic Equipment (TV, Camera etc.) 32%
Event, Theater or Movie Tickets 31%
Cosmetics / Nutrition Supplements / Medicine 25%
Flowers or Gift Items 25%
Toys / Dolls / Collectibles 21%
Houseware or hardware items 16%
Sporting Goods 10%
Groceries 10%
Automotive/Motor and Accessories 8%

Cambodia

Music or CD’s 24%
Sporting Goods 21%
Groceries 13%

55

Indonesia

Music or CD’s 60%
Sporting Goods 57%
Groceries 28%

Lao PDR

Music or CD’s 30%
Sporting Goods 16%
Groceries 8%

56

Malaysia

Music or CD’s 29%
Sporting Goods 20%
Groceries 15%

Myanmar

Music or CD’s 15%
Sporting Goods 10%
Groceries 5%

57

Philippines

Music or CD’s 23%
Sporting Goods 11%
Groceries 11%

Singapore

Music or CD’s 32%
Sporting Goods 15%
Groceries 15%

58

Thailand

Music or CD’s 48%
Sporting Goods 34%
Groceries 27%

Viet Nam

Music or CD’s 34%
Sporting Goods 20%
Groceries 11%

59

In June 2010, the Nielsen Company came out with a global average 2 on what people intend to
purchase online in the next six months. The results are below. Considering that technology and
industry has gone through many changes in the last three years, there are still some noteworthy
similarities among popular and unpopular items online

2
Global Trends in Online Shopping. A Nielsen Global Consumer Report. June 2010

60

2. MEDIA OPTIONS

To determine the possible success of digital media, online users where asked their preference
regarding reading materials, music and video.

When given an option, most ASEAN the respondents prefer digital media. Except for Brunei and
Singapore, most ASEAN online shoppers already prefer digital book to traditional books. In all
countries, a majority of Internet users prefer downloaded music and videos over traditional CDs and
DVDs.

Take note that the Internet users were asked regarding their preference rather than the medium they
actually purchased.

Brunei
Darussalam Cambodia Indonesia Lao PDR Malaysia Myanmar Philippines Singapore Thailand Viet Nam
Prefers
downloadable
45% 79% 69% 69% 53% 78% 53% 39% 63% 70%
digital books to
physical books.
Prefers digital music
72% 71% 80% 64% 67% 72% 74% 78% 79% 75%
to CDs.
Prefers digital
60% 50% 70% 61% 65% 67% 68% 72% 66% 72%
videos to DVDs.

3. OTHER PURCHASE OPTIONS

Besides retail consumer items, the broad definition of E-Commerce covers all transactional uses of
the Internet. The table below shows the amount of respondents who say they have availed of
professional transactional services online.

Brunei
Darussalam Cambodia Indonesia Lao PDR Malaysia Myanmar Philippines Singapore Thailand Viet Nam
Has availed of
professional services
27% 46% 39% 31% 33% 44% 22% 20% 43% 38%
(Medical, Legal
Advice, etc)

Has availed of
business services
such as domain
name registration, 37% 60% 48% 45% 54% 44% 33% 37% 51% 47%
software services
Online or through
the Internet.

Has paid utility bills
Online or through
the Internet?(ex. 23% 26% 51% 19% 58% 27% 28% 52% 50% 23%
electricity, water,
telephone bills)

Has transferred
funds or money
38% 32% 40% 23% 63% 40% 31% 67% 47% 39%
Online or through
the Internet.

61

The table below shows the percentage of Internet users that have access to a personal electronic
payment method such as credit cards, debit cards, or an electronic wallet.

Brunei Cambodia Indonesia Lao PDR Malaysia Myanmar Philippines Singapore Thailand Viet Nam
Darussalam
Checks credit card
or bank statements
48% 30% 42% 19% 63% 27% 31% 67% 56% 46%
Online or through
the Internet.
Owns a credit card. 43% 44% 42% 30% 33% 33% 33% 48% 53% 54%
Owns a debit card. 33% 29% 67% 30% 53% 33% 33% 78% 66% 44%
Has an electronic
32% 29% 38% 19% 37% 13% 21% 41% 44% 31%
wallet (ex. paypal)

62

G. DATA SUMMARY

ECONOMY
BRUNEI
CAMBODIA INDONESIA LAO PDR MALAYSIA MYANMAR PHILIPPINES SINGAPORE THAILAND VIET NAM
DARUSSALAM
Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
14,146.7 10,368.2 546,527.0 5,579.2 193,107.7 24,972.8 161,357.6 182,701.7 264,322.8 96,317.1
at current prices (US$ million)
A s o f July 2010. A s o f July 2010. A s o f July 2010. A s o f July 2010. A s o f July 2010. A s o f July 2010. A s o f July 2010. A s o f July 2010. A s o f July 2010. A s o f July 2010.
www.aseansec.o rg/1 922 www.aseansec.o rg/1 9226 www.aseansec.o rg/1 922 www.aseansec.o rg/1 9226. www.aseansec.o rg/1 9226 www.aseansec.o rg/1 9226. www.aseansec.o rg/1 922 www.aseansec.o rg/1 92 www.aseansec.o rg/1 92 www.aseansec.o rg/1 922
6.htm .htm 6.htm htm .htm htm 6.htm 26.htm 26.htm 6.htm

GDP
10.6 10.8 539.4 5.5 191.5 27.5 161.0 177.1 263.9 92.4
at current prices (US$ Billion)
CIA 2009 CIA 2009 CIA 2009 CIA 2009 CIA 2009 CIA 2009 CIA 2009 CIA 2009 CIA 2009 CIA 2009
GDP
34,827.0 693.2 2,362.1 942.1 6,822.1 419.5 1,749.6 36,631.2 3,950.8 1,104.2
capita at current prices (US$)
GDP per capita in international
49,266.8 1,802.3 4,174.9 2,431.3 13,593.8 1,093.4 3,525.1 49,765.8 8,072.2 3,067.9
dollars (PPP$)

GDP per capita in international
51,200 1,900 4,000 2,100 14,900 1,100 3,300 52,200 8,200 2,900
dollars (PPP$)
CIA 2009 CIA 2009 CIA 2009 CIA 2009 CIA 2009 CIA 2009 CIA 2009 CIA 2009 CIA 2009 CIA 2009

Total population
406.2 14,957.8 231,369.5 5,922.1 28,306.7 59,534.3 92,226.6 4,987.6 66,903.0 86,024.6
thousand

Population density 70 83 124 25 86 88 307 7,022 130 260
Total land area km 2 5,765 181,035 1,860,360 236,800 330,252 676,577 300,000 710 513,120 331,051

INFRASTRUCTURE
BRUNEI
DARUSSALAM
Road length km 2,971 38,093 437,759 29,811 98,721 30,902 201,910 3,356 180,053 222,179
Roads per area (Ratio) 0.52 0.21 0.24 0.13 0.3 0.05 0.67 4.72 0.35 0.67

63

E-COMMERCE INDICATORS
BRUNEI
DARUSSALAM
Number of Fixed Telephone Line
19.5 0.3 13.4 1.5 15.9 1.4 4.3 40.2 10.4 32.8
Subscribers per 100
WDI 2009 est. WDI 2009 est. WDI 2009 est. WDI 2009 est. WDI 2009 est. WDI 2009 est. WDI 2009 est. WDI 2009 est. WDI 2009 est. WDI 2009 est.
Number of Mobile Telephone
88.9 29.1 61.8 23.8 100.4 0.8 75.4 138.1 117.3 80.4
Subscribers per 100
Number of personal computers
8.9 0.4 2 1.7 23.1 0.9 7.2 74.3 6.7 9.6
per 100
Number of Internet
162.6 31000 12,658.5 95.9 15,379.70 70 5,341 5,898.9 13,868.6 17,414.2
Subscriptions (Thousands)
2007 2009 2007 2007 2007 2010 March 2007 2009 2007 2007
Proportion of population with
56% 1% 12.5% 7.7% 65.7% 0.6% 3.9% 90% 24% 28%
internet access
2009 2009 2009 2009 2009 2010 March Dec 2009 2009 2009 2010 May
Number of People with Access to
217,000 74000 18,000,000 527,450 15,074,000 351,390 5,618,000 3,108,200 16,100,000 24,269,083
the Internet*
2008 2008 2008 2008 2008 2010 March 2008 2009 2008 5/2010
Internet Cost (Annual,
223 396 220 331 91 556 24 258 89 125
Pricebasket, USD)
WDI 2006 WDI 2006 WDI 2006 WDI 2006 WDI 2006 WDI 2006 WDI 2006 WDI 2006 WDI 2006 WDI 2006
Monthly Subscription 17.85 33.08 17.26 27.6 7.39 30 1.15 USD 18.80 (S$25.2) 6.95 10.66
ASEAN 2005 ASEAN 2005 ASEAN 2005 ASEAN 2005 ASEAN 2005 ASEAN 2010 March ASEAN 2005 ASEAN 2010 ASEAN 2005 ASEAN 2005
Minimum Wage - 600 1,344 - 5,832 - 2,956 24,533 2,247 626
DOLE Latest A vailable DOLE Latest A vailable DOLE Latest A vailable DOLE Latest A vailable DOLE Latest A vailable DOLE Latest A vailable DOLE Latest A vailable DOLE Latest A vailable DOLE Latest A vailable DOLE Latest A vailable
Internet Penetration 80.70% 0.50% 12.30% 7.50% 64.60% 0.20% 29.70% 77.80% 26.30% 27.10%
IWS 2010 est. IWS 2010 est. IWS 2010 est. IWS 2010 est. IWS 2010 est. IWS 2010 est. IWS 2010 est. IWS 2010 est. IWS 2010 est. IWS 2010 est.
Internet Users 318,900 78,000 30,000,000 527,400 16,902,600 110,000 29,700,000 3,658,400 17,486,400 24,269,083
Population (Projected) 395,027 14,753,320 242,968,342 6,993,767 26,160,256 53,414,374 99,900,177 4,701,069 66,404,688 89,571,130

Facebook Account Subscriptions 191,360 167,000 30,108,220 30,620 8,893,160 - 18,124,220 2,424,780 6,167,260 154,800

Facebook 2010 Nov Facebook 2010 Nov Facebook 2010 Nov Facebook 2010 Nov Facebook 2010 Nov Facebook 2010 Nov Facebook 2010 Nov Facebook 2010 Nov Facebook 2010 Nov Facebook 2010 Nov
www.facebook.com www.google.com www.facebook.com NA www.facebook.com NA www.facebook.com www.facebook.com www.google.com.th www.google.com.vn
Top 3 Websites www.google.com.bn www.yahoo.com www.google.com.id www.google.com.my www.yahoo.com www.google.com.sg www.facebook.com www.yahoo.com
www.youtube.com www.facebook.com www.google.com www.yahoo.com www.google.com.ph www.yahoo.com www.live.com www.vnexpress.net
Top Retail Site www.sho pping.co m.bn www.isale.co m.kh www.amazo n.co m NA www.amazo n.co m NA www.amazo n.co m www.amazo n.co m www.amazo n.co m www.enbac.co m
www.bruneidirect.co m www.dap-news.co m www.kaskus.us NA www.thestar.co m.my NA www.sulit.co m.ph www.hardwarezo ne.co www.sano o k.co m www.vnexpress.net
Top Local Site
m.sg
Top Banking/ Finance / Payment www.paypal.co m no ne in to p 50 sites www.paypal.co m NA www.maybank2u.my NA www.paypal.co m www.dbs.co m no ne in to p 50 sites no ne in to p 50 sites
Gateway
Top Search Engine www.go o gle.co m.bn www.go o gle.co m www.go o gle.co m.id NA www.go o gle.co m.my NA www.go o gle.co m.ph www.go o gle.co m.sg www.go o gle.co m.th www.go o gle.co m.vn
www.bruneidirect.co m www.dap-news.co m www.detik.co m NA www.thestar.co m.my NA www.inquirer.net www.hardwarezo ne.co www.sano o k.co m www.vnexpress.net
Top Local News / Magazine Site
m.sg
www.alexa.co m (2010) www.alexa.co m (2010) www.alexa.co m (2010) www.alexa.co m (2010) www.alexa.co m (2010) www.alexa.co m (2010) www.alexa.co m (2010) www.alexa.co m (2010) www.alexa.co m (2010) www.alexa.co m (2010)

CONSUMER INSIGHT
BRUNEI
DARUSSALAM
Hours Online (High Ave.) 3 -6 1-3 3-6 1-3 3-6 1-3 3-6 6-10 3-6 6-10
Active Hours Online (High Ave.) 1-3 1-3 1-3 1-3 3-6 1-3 1-3 3-6 1-3 1-3
General
Connect with friends, General Information General Information General Information Connect with friends, General Information General Information Connect with Connect with friends,
Information Search,
Top 2 Activities Online General Information Search, Connect with Search, Connect with Search, Connect with General Information Search, Connect with Search, Connect Friends, General Information
Connect with
Search friends friends friends Search friends with friends Entertainment Search
friends
Web Access
PC/Laptop/Netbook 34% 66% 66% 73% 73% 86% 70% 39% 69% 54%
Mobile Phone/Gadget (e.g. iPod,
6% 4% 8% 4% 4% 4% 1% 8% 4% 1%
PSP)
Both 73% 35% 36% 28% 28% 20% 30% 64% 27% 45%
Internet Connection
None 1% 17% 13% 11% 3% 41% 6% 0% 7% 6%
Dial-up 3% 13% 10% 17% 3% 13% 1% 2% 8% 5%
Cable or ISDN 14% 23% 35% 12% 8% 2% 4% 12% 4% 2%
Broadband - DSL Line 29% 21% 15% 24% 40% 24% 52% 27% 52% 40%
Broadband - Wireless 52% 24% 26% 35% 46% 20% 35% 57% 25% 47%
T1 or Faster 1% 1% 2% 2% 1% 0% 2% 2% 1% 0%
Check or send email Visit Social Visit Social Check or send email Visit Social Check or send email Visit Social Check or send email Visit Social Read Online News/
Frequency of Activities (Most)
Networking Sites Networking Sites Networking Sites Networking Sites Networking Sites Magazines
Email Preference (Most) Gmail Gmail Gmail Gmail Gmail Gmail Yahoo Mail Gmail Hotmail Yahoo Mail
Search Engine Preference google google google google google google google google google google
Website Ownership
No 64% 67% 65% 72% 69% 80% 46% 69% 67% 64%
Yes, I maintain a personal
19% 18% 27% 12% 19% 15% 45% 20% 20% 27%
website
Yes, I maintain a business
7% 5% 3% 7% 4% 2% 2% 6% 5% 8%
website
Yes, I maintain both a personal
10% 10% 6% 8% 8% 2% 6% 6% 9% 2%
and business website

64

ONLINE PURCHASING
BRUNEI
DARUSSALAM
Considered purchasing item /
service in retail store that was
seen online.
Yes 82% 81% 80% 89% 63% 70% 80% 87% 78% 82%
No 18% 19% 20% 11% 37% 30% 20% 13% 22% 19%
Purchased item/ service online
using site's online payment
system
Yes 85% 75% 72% 81% 75% 60% 80% 87% 78% 59%
No 15% 25% 28% 19% 25% 40% 20% 13% 22% 41%
Has purchased Online
Yes 80% 29% 47% 36% 50% 22% 43% 82% 66% 57%
No 20% 71% 53% 64% 50% 78% 57% 18% 34% 43%
Last online Purchase
Last 3 months 75% 70% 69% 69% 51% 36% 70% 73% 76% 59%
Last 6 months 9% 13% 17% 11% 26% 9% 0% 21% 10% 15%
Mode of payment used
Credit Card 79% 62% 34% 63% 67% 63% 40% 92% 56% 19%
Money transfer/ Remittance/
16% 22% 46% 23% 22% 0% 50% 23% 53% 39%
Bank deposit
Virtual wallet 6% 6% 8% 6% 5% 0% 0% 10% 2% 0%
Cash 19% 22% 18% 23% 13% 38% 30% 14% 25% 58%
Check 2% 10% 1% 9% 3% 0% 0% 0% 3% 8%
Preferred Mode of payment
Credit Card 65% 59% 21% 53% 54% 43% 50% 74% 40% 16%
Money transfer/ Remittance/
3% 10% 38% 12% 13% 0% 20% 10% 24% 16%
Bank deposit
Virtual wallet 3% 2% 5% 3% 2% 0% 0% 3% 0% 0%
Cash 7% 6% 8% 12% 4% 14% 0% 3% 10% 24%
Check 1% 4% 0% 0% 0% 14% 0% 0% 2% 0%
Uses Online Banking
Yes 61% 32% 35% 24% 63% 12% 28% 83% 52% 48%
No 39% 68% 65% 76% 37% 88% 72% 17% 48% 52%
Type of Online Banking
Transactions Used
View my transaction history 93% 82% 75% 91% 81% 100% 100% 100% 75% 81%
View my statement of account
93% 67% 46% 86% 83% 67% 80% 83% 56% 81%
(for credit cards/loans)
Pay bills online 79% 47% 43% 64% 85% 67% 40% 81% 63% 57%
Transfer money between
66% 65% 70% 91% 62% 67% 80% 89% 75% 71%
accounts
Top 2 Barriers to Online Purchase Never tried it, Don't Never tried it, Don't Never tried it, Don't Never tried it, Not Never tried it, Don't Not applicable, Never Never tried it, Not Never tried it, Don't trust vendor, Don't trust vendor,
trust vendor trust that my credit trust that my credit applicable trust vendor tried it applicable Faster/easier to Not enough Faster/easier to
card number will be card number will be purchase locally or information to make purchase locally on
secure secure in the store a decision in the store

65

BUSINESS CONSUMER INSIGHT
BRUNEI
DARUSSALAM
1. Proportion of employees with
Internet Access
A. More than 90% 14% 38% 81% 43%
B. More than half but less than
26% 22% 15% 17%
90%
C. Around Half 17% 26% 0% 9%
D. Less than half but more than
23% 12% 4% 26%
10%
E. Below 10% 20% 2% 0% 5%
2. Company prescribed use of the
Internet
A. Email 39% 32% 26% 26%
B. For research, prospecting,
18% 17% 22% 23%
news…
C. Entertainment 6% 0% 3% 12%
D. Recruitment of employees /
2% 1% 14% 3%
Job posting
E. Online Banking / Financial
6% 20% 5% 3%
Services
F. For maintaining our Company
8% 5% 14% 16%
Website

G. Purchase of goods or services 9% 4% 3% 4%

H. Selling of goods or services 8% 13% 5% 4%
I. Online Advertising and
3% 8% 9% 9%
Promotion placements
J. We don't use the Internet 0% 0% 0% 0%
3. Description of Corporate
Internet usage
A. Crucial to the operation of
12% 43% 53% 14%
company
B. Very Important in day-to-day
52% 48% 40% 44%
operations
C. We use it often but not
27% 4% 5% 26%
significantly
D. We use basic functionalities 9% 4% 2% 16%
E. We can do without it 0% 1% 0% 1%
4. Top 3 Corporate Internet
Usages
A. Email 38% 33% 32% 35%
B. For research, prospecting,
19% 12% 26% 15%
news…
C. Recruitment of employees /
2% 0% 3% 4%
Job posting
D. Online Banking / Financial
5% 0% 1% 3%
Services
E. For maintaining our Company
5% 23% 20% 20%
Website
F. Purchase of goods or services 15% 2% 0% 6%
G. Selling of goods or services 13% 4% 4% 5%
H. Online Advertising and
2% 17% 7% 12%
Promotion placements
I. We don't use the Internet 0% 8% 0% 0%
J. Others 0% 0% 7% 0%
5. Approximate annual company
revenue attributed to the use of
the Internet.
A. More than 90% 0% 0% 3% 2%
B. More than half but less than
9% 3% 23% 8%
90%
C. Around Half 25% 6% 26% 6%
D. Less than half but more than
28% 28% 31% 22%
10%
E. Below 10% 13% 58% 11% 62%
F. None 25% 5% 6% 0%
6. Company Motivation for
Internet Use
A. Image 19% 14% 16% 18%
B. Efficiency 68% 49% 68% 58%
C. Savings 6% 16% 9% 17%
D. Profit 6% 21% 6% 7%
7. In your opinion, what is your
company’s greatest Barrier in
using the Internet in business?
A. Security 25% 23% 45% 4%
B. Fraud 0% 9% 6% 6%
C. Misuse of personal and
28% 11% 6% 2%
company information
D. Virus 33% 24% 13% 59%
E. Expense 3% 13% 8% 9%
F. Employee use for personal /
11% 18% 23% 20%
non-official matters.

66

ONLINE SHOPPING PREFERENCES
BRUNEI
DARUSSALAM
Purchased Items
Books, magazines, or other
44% 40% 69% 26% 38% 35% 31% 43% 58% 43%
reading materials
Cosmetics / Nutrition
25% 21% 34% 14% 28% 25% 20% 22% 50% 22%
Supplements / Medicine
Clothing / Accessories/ Shoes 48% 27% 70% 21% 40% 25% 27% 47% 60% 47%
Computer Hardware 38% 29% 54% 28% 33% 20% 23% 33% 47% 31%
Computer Software 45% 41% 65% 30% 40% 30% 26% 45% 56% 46%
Videos, DVDs, Games 45% 29% 68% 29% 38% 20% 31% 45% 59% 41%
Tours / Hotel reservations 57% 35% 44% 26% 45% 35% 42% 52% 60% 30%
Airline Tickets / reservations 63% 42% 57% 45% 65% 50% 55% 54% 73% 51%
Event, Theater or Movie Tickets 31% 21% 48% 24% 46% 15% 27% 82% 48% 38%
Electronic Equipment (TV,
32% 32% 56% 28% 25% 15% 19% 22% 38% 24%
Camera etc.)
Music or CD’s 39% 24% 60% 30% 29% 20% 23% 32% 48% 34%
Toys / Dolls / Collectibles 21% 13% 39% 13% 23% 10% 15% 30% 34% 25%
Sporting Goods 10% 21% 57% 16% 20% 16% 11% 15% 34% 20%
Groceries 10% 13% 28% 8% 15% 5% 11% 15% 27% 11%
Automotive/Motor and
8% 20% 42% 15% 16% 5% 9% 10% 22% 14%
Accessories
Houseware or hardware items 16% 17% 41% 19% 24% 5% 7% 17% 27% 13%
Flowers or Gift Items 25% 20% 44% 22% 32% 5% 22% 40% 42% 43%
Media Options
Prefers downloadable digital
45% 79% 69% 69% 53% 78% 53% 39% 63% 70%
books to physical books.
Prefers digital music to CDs. 72% 71% 80% 64% 67% 72% 74% 78% 79% 75%
Prefers digital videos to DVDs. 60% 50% 70% 61% 65% 67% 68% 72% 66% 72%
Other Purchase Options
Has availed of professional
services (Medical, Legal Advice, 27% 46% 39% 31% 33% 44% 22% 20% 43% 38%
etc)
Has availed of business services
such as domain name
37% 60% 48% 45% 54% 44% 33% 37% 51% 47%
registration, software services
Online or through the Internet.
Has paid utility bills Online or
through the
23% 26% 51% 19% 58% 27% 28% 52% 50% 23%
Internet?(ex.electricity, water,
telephone bills)
Has transferred funds or money
38% 32% 40% 23% 63% 40% 31% 67% 47% 39%
Online or through the Internet.
Checks credit card or bank
statements Online or through 48% 30% 42% 19% 63% 27% 31% 67% 56% 46%
the Internet.
Owns a credit card. 43% 44% 42% 30% 33% 33% 33% 48% 53% 54%
Owns a debit card. 33% 29% 67% 30% 53% 33% 33% 78% 66% 44%
Has an electronic wallet (ex.
32% 29% 38% 19% 37% 13% 21% 41% 44% 31%
paypal)

67

H. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

1. CONCLUSIONS

On sheer population size, the ASEAN presents a very ideal environment for E-Commerce activities to
flourish. With an estimated online user base in excess of 123 Million, it comprises around 6% of the
world online population. Even at this size, Internet penetration rates in the ASEAN region is only at
the 20% mark giving most of its 600 Million population or more than 480 Million people as a potential
market to trade goods and services online.

With the widespread use of wireless technologies, the amount of traditional infrastructure such as
telephone lines is less of a barrier to increase Internet penetration rates. This, coupled with the rise
of affordable Internet-enabled mobile devices and computers, makes the potentials for the region
very promising.

Looking at average GDP per capita figures, for most of the ASEAN, mainstream E-Commerce may be
limited to basic goods and services with lower price entry points. Online banking plays a crucial role
in the development of E-Commerce because the basic activity of viewing bank statements and
balances is a necessity for many individuals. If banks are able to convert these users to avail of
transactional services such as “bills” or “utilities” payments, then consumers will be more accustomed
to transacting online.

For the ASEAN region, the Internet is used primarily for general content search as well as a
communication tool. Email, Search, News/Magazines/Blogs, and Social Media are the top uses for the
Internet in the region. This comes to no surprise because Information consumption will almost
always be the primary use for the Internet. As more users go online to consume content, it is
expected that a corresponding increase in E-Commerce activities will take place.

There are certainly a number of indications that the region is ready for E-Commerce. Most
respondents in the consumer survey who have purchased items online prefer online or electronic
payment methods. In addition to this, many of the respondents who have purchased online did so
within the last 3 months indicating that online purchasing can become habitual after the first few
purchases.

With the combination of a substantial base of online users and a keen interest in online activities, the
ASEAN region is undoubtedly a good environment for E-Commerce.

68

2. RECOMMENDATIONS

The challenge for many ASEAN countries is to increase Internet penetration to levels that will make E-
Commerce a viable venue for business. Enumerated below are some ways that can improve Internet
penetration rates across the region:

1. For lower GDP per capita countries, reducing the cost of Internet subscription rates may aid in
increasing online users. Prepaid or pay as you go Internet connections may be one of the keys to
increasing Internet penetration rates as it will empower individuals to go online and engage in basic
Internet activities for a low cost without the commitment of monthly bills.

2. Encouraging the use of affordable Internet-powered devices such as net books, handhelds, and other
mobile devices is necessary. As the world accepts wireless technologies, these devices will increasingly
allow easier access to the Internet.

3. Increase the consumption of free Internet content such as news, blog, online publications, information
Sites, and Social media to lead to more interest in the Internet creating a bigger market for transacting
online.

4. Increase the use of the Internet for basic activities such as online banking, email, and entertainment to
create a bigger online user base needed to sustain a healthy E-Commerce environment.

5. It is vital to encourage internationally-accepted forms of electronic payment such as credit cards, debit
cards, electronic wallets, wire transfers, and the like. Electronic payment facilities are tightly associated
with Internet based transactions and are crucial for E-Commerce to flourish.

6. It is crucial to create a trustworthy environment for E-Commerce by creating and enforcing laws,
regulations and guidelines pertaining to consumer and business rights to protect them from undesirable
elements in the Internet.

Combining cheap Internet access and integrating the Internet into the daily lives of individuals is seen as a
method to increase online users while improving electronic payment facilities and creating a trustworthy
environment should encourage more online transactions to increase ASEAN E-Commerce activities.

7. Establish framework for cross border complaints and dispute resolution to discourage fraud, encourage
better customer service and improve online sales.

8. Conduct capability building activities to address the recommendations above and update the ASEAN E-
Commerce Database to show the progress being made with the ASEAN ICT Masterplan 2015.

69

3. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE STUDIES

The ASEAN E-Commerce Database project will be an effective tool in measuring the progress of the ASEAN
ICT Master Plan 2015. As such, it is important to fine tune the data gathering activities to make data
collection faster and more efficient. The following recommendations are based on the lessons learned
from the current data gathering activities:

1. Empower the lead consultant/researcher to be the central repository of all data gathering activities in
order to alleviate pressure from responsible agencies of each country and to provide a uniform data set
from compatible sources.

2. For direct data gathering of country information: Assign the lead consultant to collate information
from reliable online and offline sources. Simplify the task of responsible agencies to reviewing and
approving the accuracy of the data and sources used by the consultant. Responsible agencies may also
give alternatives to better information sources if necessary.

3. For Consumer and Business User Surveys and Questionnaires: All countries should use a uniform
online survey. The survey may be in plain English or with corresponding translation or subtitles whenever
necessary. The responsible agencies in each country will be tasked to promote the online survey instead
of implement it themselves. This will save a lot of time, money and coordination effort.

4. Allocate a budget for online advertising and promotions of the survey. This will enable the consultant
to gather data much faster. Due to the random nature of the respondents that can be gathered from
online advertising and promotions, data will also be made more accurate.

5. Trim down all surveys to the most essential pieces of Information to provide a more concise and
focused document.

70

I. LIST OF TABLES & FIGURES

1. TABLES

Table 1: Total ASEAN Internet Users ranked in descending order. IWS 2010 est. .............................................14

Table 2: ASEAN population and Internet Penetration. IWS 2010 est. ................................................................14

Table 3:Internet Penetration ranked in descending order. IWS 2010 est. .........................................................15

Table 4: Internet Users per Country and % of total. IWS 2010 est. ....................................................................18

Table 5: Table form for Figure 4 (above). IWS 2010 est. ....................................................................................19

Table 6: ASEAN totals of population & Internet users vs. Rest of the World. IWS 2010 est. ..............................20

Table 7: ASEAN Economic indicators and Internet penetration in percent
*Updated through The Ministry of Posts and Communications, Cambodia. ......................................................21

Table 8: ASEAN GDP per capita, minimum wage (annual), and Internet Cost (annual). .....................................22

Table 9: Economic indicators, Internet Penetration vs. benchmarks. ASEAN 2009, IWS 2010
*Updated through The Ministry of Posts and Communications, Cambodia. ......................................................23

Table 10: Capacity to deliver physical goods. ASEAN 2009 ................................................................................26

Table 11: Top Websites in ASEAN. www.alexa.com 2010 ..................................................................................28

Table 12: Number of Facebook accounts. www.facebook.com Nov 2010 .........................................................30

2. FIGURES

Figure 1: Internet Users per ASEAN Member State. IWS 2010 est. *Updated
through The Ministry of Posts and Communications, Cambodia........................................................................13

Figure 2: ASEAN comparison of population vs. Internet Users ..........................................................................16

Figure 3: ASEAN breakdown in contribution to population vs. Internet users. ..................................................17

Figure 4: Composition of Population vs. Internet Users for benchmark blocs/countries ...................................19

Figure 5: ASEAN percentage of population and Internet Users .........................................................................20

Figure 6: Fixed telephone lines per 100 population, ASEAN vs. benchmarks (inset). WDI 2009 est. ..................24

Figure 7: Mobile Phones per 100 population, ASEAN vs. benchmarks (inset). WDI 2009 est. ............................25

71

Figure 8: PCs Per 100 Population vs. Benchmarks (inset) ..................................................................................25

J. ANNEXES

1. REFERENCES

www.oecd.org - Organisation For Economic Co-operation The 2005 e-readiness rankings
and Development Electronic Commerce in Asia, - B to C Economist Intelligence Unit (White Paper)The Economist
Electronic Commerce-Center of the International April 13, 2005
Cooperation for Computerization (CICC)
March, 2009 UNCTAD Expert Meeting on:
Measuring Electronic Commerce as an Instrument for the
The Present ICT Data Collection and Measuring System in Development of the Digital Economy
Myanmar (Presentation) Draft Chairman's summary
ASEAN Workshop on Measurement of Digital Economy http://www.unctad.org/ecommerce/
U Tin Win Aung, Secretary, Myanmar Computer Federation 8-10 September 2003, Room XXVI, Palais des Nations, Geneva
Joint Secretary, e-National Task Force
E-Commerce Readiness Assessment Guide E-Readiness Assessment (India)
APEC, A Partnership of the Business Community With APEC Renu Budhiraja, Additional Director
Economies Sameer Sachdeva, Project Consultant
19 –20 September 2002, Bangkok Thailand Department of Information Technology E-Readiness
Assessment
Questionnaire for E-Commerce Legal Framework in Asia- renu@mit.gov.in sachdeva_sameer@hotmail.com
Pacific Countries APEC February 9, 2004
28th September, 2001
SMEs AND E-COMMERCE (Indonesia)
ASEAN e-Measurement Initiative and Thailand Case Study Prepared for THE ASIA FOUNDATION
The Needs and Challenges of e-Measurement in the CastleAsia
Developing Countries January 2002
UNCTAD Expert Meeting
Measuring Electronic Commerce E-Readiness As A Tool (White Paper)
As an Instrument for the Development of the Digital www.schoolnetafrica.org
Economy March 27, 2002
8-10 September 2003, Geneva
E-Commerce in Southeast Asia: A Review of Developments,
The 2009 e-readiness rankings Challenges and Issues*
Economist Intelligence Unit (White Paper) Aniceto C. Orbeta, Jr.**
The Economist Philippine Institute for Development Studies
June 5, 2009 December 2000

The 2008 e-readiness rankings Electronic Commerce in New Zealand
Economist Intelligence Unit (White Paper) A Survey of Business Use of the Internet
The Economist Brian Milne
March 25, 2008 October 13, 2000

Measuring the Information Society 2010
International Telecommunications Union

Global Trends in Online Shopping. A Nielsen Global Consumer
Report. June 20

2. LIST OF ABBREVIATION S

ASEAN – Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Official Website www.aseansec.org.

72

CIA – Central Intelligence Agency. The World Factbook provides information on the history, people, government, economy,
geography, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues for 267 world entities.
https://www.cia.gov/index.html. (Wiki) The Factbook is available in the form of a website, which is partially updated every
week. It is also available for download for use off-line. It provides a two- to three-page summary of the demographics,
geography, communications, government, economy, and military of 267 entities[3] including U.S.-recognized countries,
dependencies, and other areas in the world. The World Factbook is prepared by the CIA for the use of U.S. government
officials, and its style, format, coverage, and content are primarily designed to meet their requirements.[4] However, it is
frequently used as a resource for academic research papers.[5] As a work of the U.S. government, it is in the public domain.[6].
www.cia.gov

ITU - is the leading United Nations agency for information and communication technology issues, and the global focal point for
governments and the private sector in developing networks and services. www.itu.int

IWS - Internet World Stats is an International website that features up to date world Internet Usage, Population Statistics and
Internet Market Research Data, for over 233 individual countries and world regions. Asiatic Internet Usage and Population
Statistics were updated for June 30, 2010. (2) Population numbers are based on data from the US Census Bureau. (3) The most
recent usage comes mainly from data published by Nielsen Online, ITU, official country statistics and other trustworthy local
source. (2010) www.Internetworldstats.com

WDI – World Development Indicators from the World Bank is a vital source of financial and technical assistance to developing
countries around the world. Our mission is to fight poverty with passion and professionalism for lasting results and to help
people help themselves and their environment by providing resources, sharing knowledge, building capacity and forging
partnerships in the public and private sectors. http://data.worldbank.org

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ASEAN E-Commerce Database Project 2010 Report

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