Building the Digital Backbone for Southeast Asia–India Trade

Southeast Asia (SEA) is experiencing significant digital growth. The region’s digital economy grew by 55% in the two years leading up to 2024, reaching $89 billion.[1] Nearly 2,000 miles to the West, India is going through a similar revolution. India’s digital economy is worth over $400 billion; as a percent of the national income, it’s expected to balloon from 12% in 2022 to 20% by 2030.[2] Rapid digital transformation in the SEA region and India is supported by young, tech-savvy populations, rising internet penetration and strong government backing for digital initiatives.

At the same time, these two economies are becoming increasingly integrated. The share of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) exports destined for India and its surrounding nations has risen steadily over the last 30 years, from approximately 5% in the 1990s to around 9% today. Similarly, the share of India’s exports headed to ASEAN countries has risen over the same period, from around 4% to 10%.[3]

The reasons for this increasing integration are easily understandable, and important. Globally, businesses today have to navigate tense geopolitical environments, supply chain disruptions and a rapidly evolving regulatory landscape. Against this context, businesses from SEA and India see each other as resilient, scalable markets, with acceptable levels of geopolitical risk, especially given that India is the fifth-largest global economy.

Southeast Asia and India also share a strong alignment in their industrial focus, which opens the door to deeper regional cooperation. Both regions are strong in electronics and IT, auto components and pharmaceuticals—sectors that rely on digital innovation. Textiles and agriculture remain vital export categories for both, while emerging sectors like gaming and artificial intelligence are gaining traction. Overlapping industry specialization creates a natural foundation for economic integration and joint development.

Governments and private industry each have a role to play

Much of the potential to increase mutual prosperity within SEA and India remains unrealized. Both governments and private industry will play a role in maximizing the opportunity.

Many government agencies actively promote regional cooperation and integration.  Bilateral and multilateral trade agreements are becoming far more valued by most major national economies. Government agencies are also responsible for regulations underpinning data flows, cybersecurity and e-commerce; common standards for these can help accelerate the integration of the region’s digital economies. ASEAN’s Cybersecurity Cooperation Strategy (CCS) for 2021 to 2025 focuses on advancing cyber readiness, strengthening and harmonizing regional cyber policies and enhancing trust in cyberspace. In 2023, India introduced the Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDP), a comprehensive law governing the collection, storage and processing of personal data in online transactions.

Private enterprise is also driving deeper integration of the region’s digital economies. Indian companies are investing more in Southeast Asia, especially in IT services, fintech, real estate, healthcare and education. In fiscal year 2025, (April 2024-February 2025), Indian companies invested approximately $5.5 billion in Singapore. Sovereign funds, conglomerates and tech investors in Southeast Asia are increasing investments in India’s thriving startup ecosystem. During the fiscal year 2023-24, Singapore was the largest source of foreign direct investment (FDI) into India, with equity inflows of $11.77 billion.

One example of increasing cross-border collaboration is in Capital Markets. SEA’s leading financial exchanges have a stated goal of enhancing investment opportunities by developing cross-border products. These exchanges are considering establishing an ASEAN-Interconnected Sustainability Ecosystem, a centralized infrastructure for financial sustainability data, accompanying a digital marketplace for technology-based sustainability solutions.[4] By increasingly integrating their offerings, the region’s exchanges can provide investors with a more diverse and scalable investment environment. This is not a strategy unique to SEA; the exchanges of Colombia, Peru and Chile, for example, have in recent years created a unified capital market based on shared digital infrastructure (the Nuam Single Market).

The SEA-India digital corridor underpins economic integration

Government and private sector efforts to deepen regional economic ties depend on underlying infrastructure. Some of this is financial in nature: cooperation in fintech, cross-border payments, digital banking and insurance is growing and will support all aspects of cross-border trade. However, the success of these initiatives depends on a strong, shared foundation of digital infrastructure knitting together the diverse actors in the region’s digital economy.

At Equinix, we have a front-row seat to observe the growth and spread of network infrastructure across these regions. Historically, Singapore has been a dominant hub for the interconnection of the surrounding area within SEA. The growth of Singapore in this regard has been quite astounding: over the three years from 2019 to 2022, the capacity of the Equinix Internet Exchange in Singapore tripled, creating a unique environment from which connections to over 85% of SEA’s consumers and enterprises are possible.

We are now seeing network concentrations diversifying across the region.  Between 2022 and 2024, the number of network deployments publicly advertised in Jakarta almost doubled. The same is true of Manila.  Kuala Lumpur network deployments increased by 45% over this period. The proliferation of network availability across the metros of the region means greater possibilities for local interconnection, improving the resiliency, performance and efficiency that digital infrastructure can offer businesses in those countries.

Possibilities for increased cross-border data transfers are also on the rise. New subsea cable deployments are landing across the region, notably between Singapore and Johor in Malaysia, and between Singapore and Batam Island in Indonesia. Some new cables, including IAX, MIST and SEA-ME-WE 6, are extending from SEA into India, creating a vibrant digital corridor between the two regions. These build-outs are shaping international data and commerce flows. According to TeleGeography, in 2024, Singapore’s data exchange with India grew significantly faster than its traditional data routes to the US, Japan or China (driven in part by the MIST and IAX cables coming online). India’s overall subsea cable market is expected to grow by 19.4% annually between 2024 and 2034, cementing its emerging role as a key subsea hub for the Asia-Pacific region.[5]

Source: TeleGeography

Looking to the future: what more needs to be done?

The buildout of connectivity at sea and on land, and the maturation of the region’s network service market, are both essential components of a regional digital infrastructure that can empower economic integration. But the SEA-India corridor also needs a common, integrated platform to house the physical networking and computing equipment of the region’s digital leaders. Today, the majority of data centers in these markets are operated as local or national platforms. For digital enterprises which are seeking to operate pan-regionally, or indeed globally, managing a patchwork of different providers across this territory can present challenges.

At Equinix, we are building a pan-regional, connected digital infrastructure for these emerging markets.  Equinix empowers businesses to capitalize on digital opportunities in the region and globally, by connecting them directly to an industry-leading ecosystem of service providers and business partners.  As part of this expansion program, we are entering new geographic markets, to provide the consistent, interconnected digital infrastructure foundation the regional economy needs. Our recent and upcoming new market entries include launches in:

• Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: first Equinix International Business Exchange™ (IBX®) data center launched in January 2024, and subsequently expanded
• Johor, Malaysia: first IBX data center launched in May 2024, a second in construction
• Jakarta, Indonesia: launched in May 2025
• Manila, Philippines: three acquired data centers launched in June 2025
• Chennai, India: first IBX data center to launch in Q3 2025
• Bangkok, Thailand: first IBX data center under construction

By building a super-connected digital infrastructure spanning SEA, India and globally, we intend to strengthen the development of the SEA-India digital corridor and help all its nations achieve their ambitions for digital economic development.

To learn more about our data center presence in Southeast Asia, India and the rest of the world, visit our website.

[1] e-Conomy SEA 2024 Report, Google, Temasek and Bain & Company, 2024.

[2] Ministry of Electronics & IT Press Release, Government of India Press Information Bureau, January 28, 2025.

[3] 2025/36 “South Asia’s Regional Integration: Lessons from Southeast Asia” by Jayant Menon, ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, 2025

[4] ASEAN Exchanges to Accelerate Efforts on Product and ESG Development at the 38th ASEAN Exchanges CEOs Meeting hosted by the Philippine Stock Exchange, ASEAN EXCHANGES, February 21, 2025

[5] Submarine Cables Are Backbone Of India’s Digital Future: Trai Chief, Kashish Saxena, BW BUSINESSWORLD, March 26, 2025.