After more than two years of negotiations spanning fourteen rounds of deliberations across ASEAN capitals, the region's Senior Economic Officials finally resolved all outstanding issues of the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement (DEFA) in Manila on May 27–29, 2026.1 The DEFA initiative was first launched during Indonesia 2023 Chairmanship, was carried forward through intensive negotiations and consensus-building efforts during Laos PDR and Malaysia chairmanship in 2024 and 2025 before concluded in the Philippines this year. It is expected to be signed at the 49th ASEAN Summit in November 2026, marks one of the most consequential milestones in ASEAN economic integration in recent memory. This, again, reflects a collective ASEAN effort to advance regional digital integration.