Digitally deliverable services play a growing role in export-driven  production in Asia and Latin America, but digitally  deliverable  services from Latin America are used only to a limited extent by producers in Asia, and vice versa.

 

However,  this disguises  the  rapid expansion of Latin  America-Asia digitally deliverable  services  trade  in  the  past  15  years.  This report prepared for the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) rigorously tracks the growth and  sources of digitally deliverable  services  in  Latin American and Asian manufacturing,  agricultural  and services value  chains and proposes ways to expand biregional B2B services flows.

 

We find “hidden  complementarities”  in  digitally  deliverable  services  between  Latin America  and  Asia.  The  Latin  American  manufacturing,  mining  and  services  sectors  are drawing  on  sophisticated  IT  services  and  services  using  disruptive  technologies such as  blockchain  and  AI  from  Japan,  Korea, Singapore  and  the Philippines,  while  Latin  American manufacturers  and  agricultural  firms  are  increasingly using  Chinese  financial  services. 

 

Firms in Singapore,  China,  the  Republic  of  Korea  and  Japan  look to  Brazil,  Chile,  Costa  Rica  and  Colombia  for  emerging  digitally  deliverable  services such  as  gaming,  animation  and  ecommerce.  The  agricultural  sector  in  Thailand  and Viet  Nam  leverage  Brazilian  digitally  deliverable  services,  potentially  Agtech applications.

​

The report proposes new partnerships between LAC and Asia in such areas as Logtechs, Fintechs and Agtechs as well as Blue Economy and Smart Cities, to expand complementarities in technological innovations and digitaly deliverable services on both sides.