By Sunny Lim, Traydstream
Asia-Pacific (APAC) sits at the heart of global trade, accounting for the largest share of merchandise exports and imports worldwide. With supply chains stretching across continents and an increasingly digital-savvy customer base, the region is pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in trade finance. Whilst banks in APAC are eager to embrace innovation, it also faces structural and operational challenges that require strategic focus and continuous education.
1) Digitisation is surging — but maturity varies
In markets like Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, and Japan, digital trade initiatives are more advanced, supported by robust infrastructure, regulatory clarity, and industry-wide collaboration. Other economies, particularly in parts of South and Southeast Asia, are accelerating but face barriers such as fragmented standards, high paper dependency, and legacy systems.
Stat: APAC’s digital trade finance transactions are expected to grow at over 18% CAGR through 2027, driven by e-document adoption and platform integration.
2) Regional pain points
Despite being the engine of growth, APAC’s trade finance environment still contends with:DIfferent pace of regulatory maturity and urgency; non-standardised approach leads to lack of cross-border interoperability. For instance, while frameworks like the ASEAN Framework on Digital Data Governance and the ASEAN Digital Masterplan 2025 aim for harmonization, inconsistencies in enforcement and regulatory alignment persist.
Paper-heavy processes due to various reasons like customer preference, job security and low labour cost.
The rise of fraud and AML-related issues in APAC is mainly due to inconsistent or rather lack of tools to prevent such occurences.
Trade finance gaps disproportionately affecting smaller exporters in emerging economies, exacerbated by post-pandemic liquidity and tariff constraints.
3) Emerging tech in play
Innovations gaining traction across APAC include:
AI-driven trade document checking solution to automate the digitalisation of diverse trade document types .
National-based trade platforms linking ports, customs authorities, and financial institutions for faster document exchange, transparent transactions.
Blockchain-based solution are increasingly being used to assist in the confirmation of authenticity and duplicity checks.
Digital trade corridors like the Singapore–Australia Digital Economy Agreement enabling e-B/Ls and interoperable invoicing.
E-signature and e-stamping frameworks to facilitate trade execution in vast remote places like India and Indonesia.
4) Regional trade finance statistics
The Asian Development Bank estimates the APAC trade finance gap at over USD 500 billion annually.
Digitisation could cut trade transaction processing times by 30–50% in developed APAC markets and even more in emerging ones.
The majority of large APAC banks list “platform connectivity” and “API integration” as top investment priorities for the next 24 months.
5) Call to action for collaboration
- Closing APAC’s trade finance gap and enabling end-to-end digitisation will require:
- Continuous education across all levels in an organisation to truly understand the benefits, both internally and externally
- Removal of barriers in mindset and policy-wise to embrace new technologies
- Cross-border standard harmonisation, especially around platform adoption and interoperability and access to and sharing of e-documents.
- Public–private partnerships to modernise trade infrastructure.
A word from Sunny Lim
“APAC’s diversity is both its challenge and its greatest strength. By embracing shared digital standards,removing digital islands and adopting new flexible tech to facilitate digitisation and automation, we can unlock efficiencies that benefit for everyone — from the largest exporters and banks to the smallest SMEs.” — Sunny Lim, Traydstream
Closing: what Traydstream brings to APAC
Traydstream’s AI-powered document intelligence and automation help banks and corporates in APAC handle diverse document types, navigate multiple regulatory regimes, and speed up decision-making. With a proven track record in cross-border trade document processing, we’re ready to support institutions in the region through pilots, integrations, and strategic partnerships.
