Many reports within the last year have shown that economies in Southeast Asia are on the rise with much of that down to the internet. As the cost has decreased and the speeds have increased in recent years, the internet has experienced adoption rates never seen before. Studies have shown that there are now close to 400 million internet users in Southeast Asia, around 140 million over four years ago.

Families that previously saw an internet connection as a luxury are now starting to see it as a necessity almost in the same way as paying an electric or water bill.  Throw in the reducing costs to own a smartphone and the cheaper cost of mobile data and again, you are seeing a massive increase of people now connecting to the internet.

But how is that helping economies in countries such as Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, and the Philippines?

Increased Revenue for Telecoms Companies

First up, more people using the internet means more money making its way to telecom companies. This allows these companies to grow, hire more staff, and expand their services. Their products are now being snapped up, their data packages are being sold, and they have never had it so good.

Mobile Phones and Tablets Sales Also Increasing

Similar applies to retailers that rely on sales of gadgets, computers, laptops and gaming consoles that connect to the internet. Not much point in having the internet if you cannot connect to it after all.

Increased uptake on these products is only a good thing for the economy and for those retailers in particular. As with the telecom’s companies, they can expand, open new branches and open up more job opportunities for citizens.

Online & Mobile Gaming

The development of mobile gaming has also created more money for economies. Youngsters that before could not afford to are now actually starting to make more online game purchases. Whether it is new skins, better weapons, in-game currencies or whatever else they want to buy, they are now doing it far easier than they ever could before.

Many of these games are free too, so there is no initial outlay like there are when playing PC or console games. This gives everybody access and allows those that play to have the opportunity to pay for content when they can.

xo slot games on mobile devices are also popular but amongst adults who want to play real money games.

Ecommerce

Not online offline retailers are seeing the benefits of increased internet usage in Southeast Asia, online retailers are too. With the internet comes the ability to enjoy convenience. Ecommerce allows people to browse goods online, purchase them, and have them delivered directly to their homes.

You only must think of names such as Lazada and Shopee, which are huge in many Southeastern countries right now. Think an Asian version of Amazon, whereby sellers can operate on these platforms to sell goods much like they would in a local market. These companies act as the middlemen, providing the collection and delivery of products, payment processing and of course, the platform for these products to be marketed to a wide audience. 

To make it even easier for cultures where the use of bank cards or other automated payment systems are not widely used by poorer people, they offer Cash on Delivery options for these products.

Through the growth of companies such as this, even more low-end employment opportunities have opened up for delivery men and women all across the region. That is without the increased demand for customer support agents.

Rideshare Food Deliveries and Taxi Cabs

Another booming area of Asian economy right now is online food delivery. Citizens can now enjoy delivery of their favorite foods from their preferred restaurants. Grab, one company in Southeast Asia has come out of nowhere to now hiring thousands upon thousands of motorcycle delivery drivers around the continent.

The cost of delivery is cheap because of the driver being able to make multiple deliveries in one go - hence the name rideshares deliveries. In fact, that industry has quadrupled in value to the tune of $13 billion since 2015 and is expected to be worth $40 billion by 2025.

While we have the likes of Uber in the West, Southeast Asia has their own variants of vehicle hire/taxi booking companies. Again, this creates jobs for anyone with a car, and also gives convenience to anyone that wishes to get somewhere quickly.

Summary

Southeast Asia is finally starting to realize the benefits of the internet on a massive scale and one of those is the economic increase that it brings to their governments. As prices tumble further in years to come, internet adoption in the region could finally be on a par with Western countries. This is without mentioning the improved entertainment and quality of life that people in Southeast Asia are seeing now and will continue to see in the future.