Context
Fair competition is an important aspect of a market economy. Effective competition policy is not only important for securing equitable market participation, it is also in the interest of consumers. The Competition Policy and Law ASEAN (CPL) project is working together with the ASEAN Secretariat and the ASEAN Experts Group on Competition (AEGC), the competent regional body, to support the introduction of the ASEAN Economic Community Blueprint, whose various measures include the introduction of competition rules in all ten of the group’s member states by 2015. Currently only five of the ten ASEAN member states have adopted competition legislation; also, there are considerable challenges to be overcome as regards enforcement.
Objective
The legal framework and institutional prerequisites for promoting a competitively based market economy have been established or improved in the ASEAN member states.
Approach
The project advises its ASEAN partners at national and regional levels and supports them with their capacity development. The measures taken concentrate on four areas of intervention:
Strengthening regional cooperation mechanisms at the ASEAN level
Institution building and development at the national level
Development of legal frameworks at the national level
Advocacy and awareness-raising aimed at state, private-sector and civil society actors.
The project builds on the experiences gained through GIZ’s long-standing bilateral cooperation with Indonesia, notably projects involving the Commission for the Supervision of Business Competition (KPPU) and the Supreme Court. As well as transferring international best practices, the project encourages dialogue between the more advanced countries in the region and those with relatively little experience and expertise in the field of competition policy. This prepares the ground for professional case management as well as the handling of cases involving several countries, while levelling out the considerable differences in preparedness between the member states.
At the same time, the project is feeding the regional guidelines and documentation drawn up in cooperation with the AEGC and the ASEAN Secretariat into national consultation rounds and gathering valuable input from the countries.
This is largely being done by cooperating closely with another project, ‘Capacity Building for the ASEAN Secretariat’ (CB ASEC), which is being implemented by GIZ on behalf of the Federal Foreign Office. Finally, this project is closely coordinated with relevant bilateral projects in the member states in order to address any shortcomings concerning the implementation of existing regional agreements in the countries.
Results
At the regional level, an active exchange of experiences is taking place, with increased interaction and cooperation between the ASEAN Member States on matters of competition policy. An online portal has been set up to improve the AEGC’s public image and facilitate knowledge management.
The competent institutions in the countries are enforcing competition rules more effectively. Brunei and Laos have drafted new competition legislation whose adoption is scheduled for 2015.