ASEAN, explained.
Quantum represents a looming challenge for Southeast Asian nations (Dynamic Wang/Unsplash)
To harness the power of quantum, Southeast Asia must upskill, innovate, and think beyond the vendor-supplier model.
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Can ASEAN secure a quantum future?Can ASEAN secure a quantum future?
As quantum technologies advance from scientific experimentation to commercial and strategic deployment, they will reshape the global order in unprecedented ways. For Southeast Asia, 2025’s International Year of Quantum Science and Technology comes at a critical juncture. With the region striving to balance economic growth, technological sovereignty, and geopolitical strategy, quantum represents a looming challenge for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Quantum technologies are at the frontier of what scientists dub Quantum 2.0. While Quantum 1.0 produced technologies such as semiconductors, lasers, transistors, MRI, and atomic clocks, this second wave seeks to harness quantum for processing, transmitting, and securing information at unprecedented scales. Unlike artificial intelligence (AI), which focuses on handling vast volumes of data, quantum is about deep computing: tackling complex problems even with relatively small datasets in processes such as simulation and optimisation. Governments will increasingly need experts to identify critical problems and apply quantum computing, with AI and quantum likely converging to complement each other.
Few countries in the region currently have the domestic capacity to develop advanced quantum technologies independently.
Yet this potential is emerging within a fragmented and contested geopolitical environment. Unlike the space race, which evolved from competition to cooperation, the quantum race is moving towards closed, proprietary ecosystems. Export controls on even low-performance quantum devices by the United States and other major powers, restrictions on research collaboration, and the nationalisation of technological standards are constraining global knowledge flows and raising the cost of innovation.
For Southeast Asia, this fragmentation limits opportunities and largely constrains ASEAN states from building their own quantum capabilities. Few countries in the region currently have the domestic capacity to develop advanced quantum technologies independently. Singapore is a notable exception, having made early and sustained investments. Its National Quantum Strategy (2024) and the local presence of firms such as Quantinuum highlight its move towards advanced quantum research and applications, positioning Singapore as a viable player in the global quantum landscape.
Quantum 2.0 seeks to harness quantum for processing, transmitting, and securing information at unprecedented scales (Dan Page/Unsplash)
But elsewhere in the region, quantum development remains uneven and dependent on external partnerships. Malaysian policymakers, for instance, are beginning to recognise quantum’s strategic dimensions. Yet the country’s approach remains largely vendor-supplier based with it acquiring access to quantum computing infrastructure through partnerships rather than domestic capability building. This model can enable participation but also risks deepening technological dependency and limiting local expertise in the long run.
Southeast Asia also urgently needs to adopt new encryption protocols, including post-quantum cryptography and quantum key distribution, to safeguard trust in critical systems such as banking. Lagging in this domain could erode confidence, deter investment, and threaten regional economic stability. More broadly, falling behind in quantum technologies could impose significant economic costs, given that the global quantum industry is projected to reach around US$97 billion by 2035. The quantum supply chain is intricate and specialised, reliant on rare-earth materials, with geopolitical rivalries already disrupting access. Technological fragmentation, where incompatible systems proliferate, could undermine interoperability and deepen inequalities, leaving smaller countries and newer players, including ASEAN states, vulnerable to alignment pressures from major powers.
Treating quantum as a distant scientific curiosity risks leaving the region to be shaped by external forces.
This dynamic is particularly relevant to Southeast Asia, whose economies depend on open trade and diversified partnerships. A fragmented quantum ecosystem could expose the region to coercive dependencies. While ASEAN could, in theory, serve as a neutral convening space for quantum research, governance, and standards, this remains aspirational without a dedicated regional policy framework, technical expertise, and alignment among member states. The gap is significant – the ASEAN Digital Masterplan 2025 notably makes no mention of quantum across its 140 pages.
This is not to suggest that quantum ambitions are absent in the region. Singapore has built Southeast Asia’s first quantum-safe network infrastructure, Thailand has introduced a national quantum roadmap, while Indonesia has established a research centre for quantum physics, among other national-level initiatives. At the regional level, efforts such as the ad hoc ASEAN Quantum Committee and the SEA Quantum Network reflect growing recognition of quantum’s importance.
While these are good initial steps, Southeast Asia must address three interlinked priorities to seize real opportunities. First, formal regional coordination should replace ad hoc committees to harmonise technical definitions, protocols, and standards, enabling collective readiness while maintaining strategic autonomy. Second, capacity building must extend beyond elite institutions to broader educational and industrial ecosystems. Third, strategic foresight should inform policy planning, including updating the region’s digital masterplan. Near-term applications, such as deploying quantum sensors for early warning and disaster prediction, offer immediate societal benefits, given Southeast Asia’s vulnerability to natural disasters, while preparing for longer-term industrial and deep-computing applications.
Quantum may not overturn Southeast Asia’s strategic realities overnight, but its cumulative impact could refine or redefine them. The technology can address critical regional challenges, from smart agriculture and greenhouse efficiency to drug discovery and genomics, sensitive data security, and geophysical monitoring. Treating quantum as a distant scientific curiosity risks leaving the region to be shaped by external forces. Conversely, a coordinated, anticipatory ASEAN approach integrating security, supply chain, and governance considerations could mitigate vulnerabilities and enable active participation in the growing quantum arena.
As quantum engagement prompts cooperation, Southeast Asia can draw on its legacy of consensus-building to connect towards a more inclusive, innovative, and secure quantum future.
About the author
Karryl Kim Sagun Trajano
Karryl Kim Sagun Trajano is a Research Fellow for Future Issues and Technology (FIT) at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore.
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