Bangkok 25-27 Oct, the Workshop provided an experience and best practices sharing platform among competition authorities across the Asia-Pacific region about effective advocacy tools and strategies. It also aimed to facilitate the adjustment of strategies in competition law enforcement to promote free trade in a fair and suitable manner for the post Covid-19 era.

Participants were welcomed by Prof. Sakon Varanyuwatana, the Chairperson of TCCT, Mr. Jungwon Song, the Director General of OECD/KPC Competition Programme, and Mr. Ruben Maximiano, OECD’s Senior Competition Expert and Regional Manager for Asia-Pacific.

The event kicked off with former Prime Minister H.E. Mr. Abhisit Vejjajiva delivering a special keynote on the topic of “Making Competition Policy a Policy Mainstay”. He highlighted the importance of competition policy on Thailand’s economic system amid the changing situations in the Asia-Pacific region fueled by the Covid-19 pandemic and digital transformation.

Sessions comprised lectures, case study discussions, and exchange of experiences among participants. The three-day event was honoured by experts from international trade competition authorities, who provided knowledge and exchanged experiences with Thai representatives and officials of the TCCT.

During the event, attendants participated in workshop sessions that feature hypothetical exercises and case study analyses on unfair trade competition of products and services under different roles. Participants exercised their skills in detecting unfair trade practices in different hypothetical markets and together designed an advocacy programme to promote a fair-trade competition culture, before presenting the strategic plan for the said programme to the meeting.

The TCCT hoped that this international meeting would help Thai authorities build a knowledge base in the promotion and advocacy of trade competition, as well as promote cooperation with international competition authorities who have strong experience in their respective field, which could help raise Thailand’s efficiency in trade competition promotion and law enforcement to an international standard.