Overview
Competition policy helps to promote and protect the competitive process and provides a level playing field for all enterprises. Fair and effective competition contributes to improvements in economic efficiency, economic growth and development, as well as consumer welfare.
Broadly speaking, competition policy can be defined as a government policy that helps maintain the level of competition in markets. This includes governmental measures that directly affect the behavior of enterprises, as well as the structure of industries and markets.
Competition policy basically covers:
- A set of policies that promote competition in local and national markets, for example policies to eliminate restrictive trade practices, favor market entry and exit, reduce unnecessary governmental interventions and put greater reliance on market forces; and
- A competition law that comprises specific legislation and regulations aimed at preventing anti-competitive agreements, abuse of dominance and anti-competitive mergers.
Competition policy complements other government policies such as trade policy, industrial policy and regulatory reform, and accommodates other economic and social objectives to enhance technological advancement, industrial diversification and job creation.
Fair competition is a key element of a functioning market economy. It provides impulses to innovation and promotes an optimal allocation of resources. By setting limits to market power, competition policy ensures the fair participation of companies and safeguards the interests of consumers. The increased competitiveness of economies, resulting from a competitive economic framework, is a crucial prerequisite for growth.
Competition policy also leads to greater consumer sovereignty and welfare. In a fair and competitive business environment, companies are under constant pressure to respond to consumer preferences in order to attract more customers and thus increase their market share. This means that they are forced to offer the best possible quality at reasonable or reduced prices. In other words, consumers have a wider range of goods and services to choose from.
In 2025, the ASEAN Competition Action Plan 2026-2030 (ACAP 2030) was developed to guide the work of the AEGC towards achieving a competitive, innovative, and dynamic ASEAN with an effective and progressive competition policy. The ACAP 2030 continues the success of its predecessor, ACAP 2016 – 2025, which set up the fundamentals of competition policy and law development in the region.
The ACAP 2030 contains the following four strategic measures which correspond to the strategic measures under the AEC Blueprint 2030:
- Strategic Measure 1: Strengthen National Competition Regimes
- Strategic Measure 2: Advance Regional Cooperation for Effective Enforcement and Convergence of Competition Law and Policy
- Strategic Measure 3: Cultivate a Competition Culture in the Region
- Strategic Measure 4: Promote fair markets in ASEAN for Sustainable, Inclusive and Resilient Growth
Strong national competition regimes are critical to supporting fair competition in ASEAN. This strategic measure underscores our commitment to strengthen the effectiveness of national competition regimes as well as the capabilities of competition authorities in ASEAN Member States. Through technical assistance, knowledge sharing, and the development of robust competition policies and guidelines, the ASEAN Experts Group on Competition (AEGC) aims to establish effective competition regimes and competition authorities in ASEAN. This supports our overarching objective by promoting development and enforcement of competition frameworks within each ASEAN Member State, ensuring that application of competition policy and law in various ASEAN Member States are carried out in a consistent way and in line with best practices, thereby fostering fair competition in ASEAN.
This strategic measure recognises how markets in ASEAN are increasingly integrated markets and highlights our commitment to engage in mutually beneficial cooperation among ASEAN Member States. Given the deeper integration of markets, more collaborative and coordinated action is essential to implement fair competition principles in the region. The AEGC aims to enhance the detection and enforcement of cross-border anti-competitive practices by putting in place various information-sharing mechanisms and engaging in closer collaboration and coordination among competition authorities in ASEAN. Through various cross-border cooperation initiatives and the development of common approaches and practices, this measure aims to create greater alignment across competition regimes in the region. This will ultimately support our overarching objective of creating fair competition in ASEAN.
This strategic measure is dedicated to promoting a robust competition culture in ASEAN as a foundation for fair market competition in the long-term, and covers the full spectrum of measures, beyond enforcement, which governments can adopt to enhance competition in markets. Through various advocacy and outreach initiatives, ASEAN Member States will reach out to multiple stakeholders including businesses (particularly MSMEs), consumers, the judiciary, sector regulators, as well as other regulatory bodies to foster greater awareness of the benefits of fair competition and the negative effects of anti-competitive behaviour. It will also be essential to understand and address potential jurisdictional overlap or gaps between competition regulators and sector regulators with a competition mandate, and to align policies across different government agencies. Creating a culture of fair competition in the region will support our overarching objective of achieving a level playing field for businesses in ASEAN.
This strategic measure highlights ASEAN’s proactive approach to identifying and responding to evolving market dynamics, technological advancements, and regulatory challenges which can potentially impact competition law and enforcement. With rapid technological advancement, competition authorities in ASEAN have to adapt to new and emerging developments quickly in order to stay relevant and effective. Artificial intelligence, sustainability, renewable and alternative energy, big data, digital markets, labour contracts and gender considerations are several key developments that competition authorities are currently grappling with. Anticipating and addressing these and other emerging issues is essential. By ensuring the continued relevance and effectiveness of competition law enforcement in ASEAN, this measure supports our objective to achieving fair and inclusive competition in the region.
Major Sectoral Bodies/Committees
In 2007, the ASEAN Economic Ministers endorsed the establishment of the ASEAN Experts Group on Competition (AEGC) as the official ASEAN body, comprising of representatives from the competition authorities and agencies responsible for competition policy and law matters in ASEAN Member States (AMS). For the past decade, the AEGC has been committed to establishing enforceable competition rules in all AMS, putting in place effective institutional mechanisms to support the implementation of competition law, creating a competition-aware region that supports fair competition, strengthening regional cooperation on CPL, and ensuring the gradual alignment of competition rules under the new AEC Blueprint 2025.
To facilitate the discussion on strategic competition issues, the ASEAN Heads of Competition Agencies (AHCA) Meeting was launched in 2021; while supporting the exchanges of information among AMS and the endeavour to integrate enforcement actions whenever possible, the ASEAN Competition Enforcers Network (ACEN) was formed in 2018 comprising competition enforcers which includes investigators and case handlers.
The scope of work of the AEGC are as below:
- Act as a platform to conduct dialogue and discourse on the issues of competition policies and laws towards constructing an integrated and cohesive economy with the view to enhancing competitiveness and dynamism in ASEAN;
- Exchange information among ASEAN Member States on competition issues such as amendments to laws and regulations, enforcement, and anti-competitive practices as well as new and emerging issues which impact on competition;
- Facilitate cooperation and coordination among officials responsible for competition issues in ASEAN Member States;
- Deepen competition policies dialogue with relevant ASEAN agencies and sectoral bodies and enhance engagement with ASEAN dialogue partners and other trading partners;
- Promote public awareness on the need for competition policies, the contribution of effective competition policies and laws to economic competitiveness, development and investment;
- Identify and implement projects and activities that would support Member States in implementing the ASEAN Competition Action Plans;
- Oversee and monitor the implementation of the ASEAN Competition Action Plans towards achieving its targets;
- Establish subsidiary bodies to deliberate on specific issues and to receive reports and provide guidance to the deliberation of these bodies;
- Promote convergence in procedural and substantive practices in ASEAN competition laws as part of the ASEAN integration process;
- Enhance competencies in implementing competition policies and laws through the establishment of competition centres in ASEAN that support training and research, and assist with the development of such centres;
- Strengthen cooperation and coordination towards an enhanced ability to address anti-competitive behaviours and agreements that have effects in more than one ASEAN jurisdiction, working towards a convergent approach and attitude to competition policies and laws across ASEAN;
- Facilitate discussions on a regional position on competition policies for Free Trade Agreement negotiations;
- Hold consultations to deepen cooperation with other competition authorities or related international organisations;
- Provide inputs and recommendations to Senior Economic Officials Meeting (SEOM) as requested on matters related to competition policies and laws; and
- Any other functions as assigned by SEOM and ASEAN Economic Ministers (AEM).
The details of the current Chair of the AEGC and the AEGC Leads are available below:
AEGC Chair 2025:
Her Excellency Ly Sopoirvichny
Independent Commissioner of the Cambodia Competition Commission (CCC)
Click here for the list of AEGC Leads.
The AEGC shall meet at least twice a year with the first to be held in the second quarter and the second to be held in the fourth quarter of the year. The ASEAN Heads of Competition Agencies (AHCA) and the ASEAN Competition Enforcers Network (ACEN) usually hold their meeting on the sideline of the AEGC meeting.
The AEGC website was launched in November 2018 and serves to support advocacy efforts in disseminating information on the benefits of competition policy and law and competition related development in ASEAN to the public, including information on cases and rulings within the AMS. The development of the website was led by the AEGC Working Group on Developing Strategy and Tools for Regional Competition Advocacy which also launched a set of competition advocacy collaterals in the form of brochure and pamphlet to raise public awareness of regional competition law and policy.
You may access the AEGC website through this link: https://asean-competition.org/
Key Documents:
- ASEAN Handbook on Competition Policy and Law for Businesses (UPDATED)
- Compendium of English translations of national competition laws, regulations, guidelines (UPDATED) (Page 97-148)
- ASEAN Competition Compliance Toolkit
Key Documents for Regulators
- Regional Guidelines on CPL (UPDATED)
- ASEAN Toolkit for Formulating National Strategies
- Biennial reports of the AEGC
Key Documents for Academics
Publications and Related Links to The Sector
- A Trainers Guide to Support the Implementation of Competition Market Studies.
(2020) - ASEAN Competition Law and Policy Peer Review: Guidance Document. (2020)
- Competition Primers for ASEAN Judges (2018)
- The AEGC Annual Report 2017 (2018)
- Competition Compliance Toolkit for Businesses in ASEAN (2018)
- The Handbook on Competition Policy and Law in ASEAN for Business 2017 (2018)
- 10 years Commemorative Video Asean Experts Group on Competition (AEGC) (2018)
- ASEAN Regional Capacity Building Roadmap for Competition 2017-2020 (2017)
- AEGC@10 Commemorative Video (2017)
- ASEAN Self-Assessment Toolkit on Competition Enforcement and Advocacy (2017)
- ASEAN Expert Group on Competition (AEGC) Inaugural Annual Report 2016 (2017)
- ASEAN Competition Action Plan (ACAP) 2016-2025 (2016)
- Toolkit on Competition Advocacy in ASEAN (2015)
- ASEAN Commemorative Banners (2015)
- Guidelines on Developing Core Competencies in Competition Policy and Law for
ASEAN (2013) - ASEAN Pamphlet “What You Need to Know About Competition Policy in ASEAN”
(2013) - Handbook on Competition Policy and Law in ASEAN for Business (2013)
- ASEAN Brochure “What You Need to Know About Competition Policy in ASEAN”
(2013) - ASEAN Regional Guidelines on Competition Policy (2010)
