ASEAN Workshop on Public-Private Partnership to Tackle Scams

On August 20, 2025, the Southeast Asia Public Policy Institute supported the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society (MDES), the U.S. ASEAN Business Council and lead industry member Meta – in coordination with the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy (CDP), U.S. Embassy in Bangkok, and U.S. Mission to ASEAN to host a workshop to address the increasing threat of scams.

The workshop aimed to explore the response to-date in Southeast Asia to scams, and discuss opportunities for the way ahead, focusing on policy development, intra-government coordination, engaging the private sector, and elevating regional coordination, especially at the ASEAN level. Discussions supported the development of draft findings for a policy white paper, which will soon be published in collaboration with the U.S. ASEAN Business Council.

The workshop was attended by ASEAN member state representatives from Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Myanmar and Brunei Darussalam.

Also in attendance and contributing to the discussions were member state civil society actors including Vietnam’s Chong Lua Dao and Philippines Citizen Watch, plus international organisations and civil society including the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, the Regional Secretariat Office of the Bali Process on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime, and the International Justice Mission. There was also representation from the private sector, including from the telecommunications sector, payments sector, and technology platforms.

The dialogue received remarks from Dr. Nattapon Nattasomboon, Deputy Permanent Secretary from the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society (MDES), Anton Kort, Regional Security Officer from U.S. Embassy & Consulate in Thailand, Dr. James Andrade, Chief Country Representative and Senior ASEAN Advisor from US-ASEAN Business Council, and Dr. Rafael Frankel, Director of Public Policy, Meta.

The workshop’s context was set by keynote lecture and presentation from Joshua James, Regional Counter-Cybercrime Coordinator, UNODC; and Ed Ratcliffe, Executive Director Southeast Asia Public Policy Institute.

Panel discussions addressed international crime, scam centers, and human trafficking from civil society perspectives; the public policy ecosystem across digital, finance, and justice sectors of government; whole-of-society strategies to mobilize regional and international collaboration; and regional intelligence and signals cooperation.

Participants spent time discussing ASEAN’s priorities, challenges, and opportunities for ASEAN to lead a coordinated regional response. The insights from the dialogue will feed into a final policy white paper to be co-published by the Southeast Asia Public Policy Institute and the U.S. ASEAN Business Council.

Many thanks to The Ministry of Digital Economy and Society (MDES), US-ASEAN Business Council, Meta – in coordination with the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy (CDP) and U.S. Mission to ASEAN for supporting the development of policy solutions to combat scams across ASEAN.