Strengthened the Investigation Techniques on Merger Review through ASEAN and Japan Cooperation.

KPPU working together with Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC), Vietnam Competition Authority (VCA) and ASEAN Secretariat, had successfully held the “Sub Regional Workshop on Investigation Techniques on Merger Review” on 27-29 March 2017 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. This workshop conducted under the flagship of Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund (JAIF) and attended by 21 participants from 9 ASEAN Member States. Malaysia sent representatives from Malaysian Aviation Commission (MAVCOM) as sector regulator that oversees economic regulation and competition matters relating to the aviation services market, including merger control.

The workshop was conducted for 2,5 days, and focused on merger with main aims to improve understanding of merger regulation in competition law in ASEAN and to strengthen investigation techniques of AMS on merger review by sharing knowledge and experience in AMS. It consist of 7 (seven) topic presentation namely: market definition, theories of harm, investigative tools and investigation plan, economic evidence in merger analysis, experience on merger remedies, international cooperation and merger control, and how merger control keep up with the pace of innovation. Several experts delivered the material, they are Professor Naoki Okubo (Gakushuin University), Mr. Herbert Fung (CCS), Alice Pham (Vietnam) and JFTC team from Merger and Acquisition Division. Several AMS also contributed to share their country experience on merger control, namely Indonesia, Philippine, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam. The workshop also held breakout session and mock interview that encouraged participants to discuss case studies on merger review.

The main purposes of the JAIF Project is to strengthen the capacity of ASEAN Member States in enforcing its competition law, to improve understanding of national competition law in ASEAN, and promote cross border cooperation in competition law. KPPU and JFTC, assisted by ASEAN Secretariat, will play role to conduct this project until end of 2018 through several activities like customize training course, targeted sub-regional workshop, and staff exchanges among ASEAN Member States. Using this project, it is expected that ASEAN will be able to advance itself through international practices and experiences among member states.