Asia-Pacific

South Korea risks harming its consumers, economy, and relationship with the United States by adopting Europe's flawed digital competition regulations.

South Korea stands at a crossroads as its restrictive “positive regulation” and “shadow regulations” stifle innovation in AI, crypto, and mobility tech, allowing China to race ahead. Korea must modernize this framework or risk losing its position as a global innovation leader.

By deciding not to pursue digital competition regulation, Australia can avoid the problems that are already materializing as a result of ex-ante regimes like the EU’s DMA.

While ITIF commends the MBIE for analyzing the efficacy of its current regime, substantial changes to New Zealand’s competition laws should be a response to clear market failures that improves consumer welfare, and not merely an attempt to keep up with perceived global or regional trends.

Standards Australia should establish age-based guidelines for the metaverse using existing content ratings; require device operating systems to create an opt-in “trustworthy child flag” system; work with global, government-led groups to build voluntary industry standards with a focus on interoperability; and promote digital literacy campaigns for children to operate in the metaverse safely.

Pakistan's frequent Internet shutdowns, justified by the government as measures to address political unrest, have significantly harmed the nation's economy, with estimated losses ranging from $892 million to $1.6 billion in 2024. To preserve economic activity and social value, policymakers should explore alternative approaches to addressing security concerns without restricting Internet access.

Thailand’s emerging digital markets are driven by innovation, growth, and the spirit of entrepreneurship. Hastily adopting the PEA as proposed risks introducing unnecessary regulatory burdens, fostering regulatory capture, and stifling innovation without clear evidence of market failure.

Policymakers in South Korea are weighing a raft of digital market provisions inspired by the EU’s Digital Markets Act. Their goal is to rein in allegedly anticompetitive practices by Big Tech firms. But the proposed interventions are unwarranted and risk harming innovation, straining relations with the United States during uncertain times, and opening the door to China.

Blocking an entire age group from social media uses a regulatory sledgehammer instead of a scalpel to address complex and evolving online safety issues. It ignores the benefits of social media for young people and the pitfalls of age-verification rules.

For policymakers to bolster the global competitiveness of their nations and regions, they first must know where they stand. This report benchmarks the 87 regions of India and the United States using 13 commonly available indicators of strength in the knowledge economy, globalization, and innovation capacity.