Brisbane, 2-4 July 2019 - Competition commissioners and agency leaders from all 10 ASEAN countries, Australia and New Zealand met for three days in Brisbane to discuss international competition law developments and their work to strengthen competition law institutions in the region.

The Commissioners’ Retreat, supported by the AANZFTA Competition Law Implementation Program (CLIP), gave 30 of the region’s competition law decision makers and top officials a forum to exchange views and information on how commissions and commissioners work to protect and support fair and open competition in their markets. Topics covered include the role and importance of competition advocacy; setting enforcement priorities; engaging the media to your agency’s advantage; and government liaison and the role of commissioners.

Participating in the Retreat were Commissioners and senior staff from established competition agencies in the region, including Australia and New Zealand, as well as recently appointed commissioners from the youngest competition agencies in South East Asia, such as Laos, Myanmar and Thailand.

“Our region is becoming more integrated and interconnected and opportunities to step up our economic engagement are great. As competition regulators, we can also expect to be addressing common challenges.

“I am a firm believer in the importance of dialogue and cooperation to build trust and understanding. As leaders of national competition agencies, we can all benefit from sharing our experiences and expertise implementing competition laws and it is a great privilege to be hosting this Retreat in Brisbane at this time,” ACCC Chair Rod Sims said.

Looi Teck Kheong, Assistant Director, Competition, Consumer Protection and IPR Division, Market Integration Directorate of the ASEAN Secretariat added “The retreat is timely as it reviews the fundamentals upon which competition framework operates on especially in the context of the fourth industrial revolution, the growing importance on the use of data analytics, big data, the ensuing privacy and cybersecurity challenges.”

The Retreat was organised by the ACCC, with support from the ASEAN Secretariat, as part of the multi-phase Competition Law Implementation Program (CLIP) under the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area Economic Support Program (AECSP). Currently in its third phase, CLIP promotes collaboration between competition agencies in the region to share resources, skills and techniques.