Implementing “the Asean regional guidelines on competition policy” in Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore and Vietnam: challenges and opportunities

Abstract

The ASEAN Regional Guidelines on Competition Policy was created to be a common framework for competition policy, which includes competition law and its enforcement for all ASEAN Member States. Implementing the ASEAN Regional Guidelines on Competition Policy is an important tool for achieving the goals of the ASEAN economic integration by level playing field for all market participants to create fair competition environment, which help turning ASEAN into highly competitive economic region and facilitate trade liberalization in ASEAN.These are considered the ultimate opportunities in implementing the Guidelines among ASEAN Member States. However, this study found that Guidelines cannot fully function because there are impediments in implementing the Guidelines in Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore and Vietnam. This dissertation divides these impediments into five main groups, namely competition policy, competition law, enforcement, competition advocacy and international cooperation. This study found that some impediments faced in Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore and Vietnam are quite common, particularly having weak competition culture and the conflict between competition policy and trade policy and industrial policy. While other impediments are found only in some countries such as inexperienced and inadequacy of resources in competition authorities to deal with complex competition cases being found in Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam. Political intervention in the enforcement of competition law can be seen in Thailand and Vietnam. The main source of these impediments in implementing the Guidelines is some competition standards in the Guidelines are contradict with the national interest and vested interests of these AMSs. These impediments in the implementation of the Guidelines in these four ASEAN countries obstruct the operational function of this Guidelines and reduce the expected opportunities. This study found that there are three necessary factors that can bring about the operational implementation of the Guidelines, which are political will, AMSs prioritizing and complying with the ASEAN regional competition commitment, and the existence of competition awareness among all stakeholders in the society, including governments, competition regulatory bodies, businesses and consumers. These factors can mutually make the implementation process of the Guidelines operational. To create these three crucial factors, changing the perception of AMSs from considering only national interest to common interest of all AMSs and ASEAN as a whole is required. Considering only national interest is the main source of impediments in implementing the Guidelines; thus, it is necessary to consider the common interest, which is what all AMSs and ASEAN will get from achieving the goals of ASEAN economic integration. Considering the common interest will be a good incentive for all AMSs to create the willing in implementing the Guidelines. ASEAN Member States also need to develop the domestic competition law and enforcement to be consistent with the framework of the Guidelines to ensure that competition laws in all AMSs are operational and effective to facilitate the achievement of ASEAN economic integration: competitive economic region and ASEAN liberalization, single market and production base