JAKARTA, 23 September 2021 – Today, the second cohort of ten ASEAN competition officials from seven ASEAN Member States completed a 9-week train-the-trainer programme designed to strengthen their skills in leading and training staff to effectively enforce national competition laws. The goals are to support markets' effective functioning and protect vulnerable consumers in AANZFTA countries.

Since July, experienced regulators from Australia have mentored participants to hone their ability to lead training activities, manage investigation teams, and strengthen their understanding of competition analysis and law enforcement.

This training activity is part of multi-phase Competition Law Implementation Programme (CLIP) supported by the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area (AANZFTA) Economic Cooperation Support Programme (AECSP).

During the programme, ASEAN competition officials convened online webinars to discuss topical enforcement matters and approaches to managing risks, designing knowledge management systems, and delivering effective staff training. Additional one-to-one mentoring sessions allowed participants to raise questions and further explore issues related to their roles.

Further, a trainers’ guide/toolkit compiling important resource materials from the programme was developed to support in-house trainings carried out in each competition agency in ASEAN.

Afiqah Soohaimi from the Malaysia Competition Commission commented that it was a well thought out programme, with topics that hit home and sparked discussions to arrive at practical solutions. She further noted that the engagement with the trainers and participants was refreshing, amidst the pandemic.

Dok Phiwath from Cambodia’s Consumer Protection, Competition and Fraud Repression Directorate-General (CCF) also shared the sentiment. ‘’By participating in this programme, I acquired strategies to effectively plan and deliver the training to enhance the audience's understanding of key concepts and ideas. Through the mentoring sessions, I was able to seek advice on technical aspects of competition analysis and law enforcement or anything related to my role,” he noted.

Support for future trainers continues to grow as the region's competition institutions continues to strengthen their capabilities and experiences. Each participant in the training programme was identified as a future leader and staff trainer by their home agency. Participating countries were Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Viet Nam.

The activity was delivered by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission in collaboration with the ASEAN Secretariat including the AANZFTA Support Unit. In its fourth phase supported by the AECSP, CLIP focuses on supporting ASEAN competition agencies to build knowledge and practical expertise in the region by sharing resources, skills, and techniques for effective competition law implementation.

 

For more information, please contact the AANZFTA Support Unit at aanzfta_inquiry@asean.org