Antitrust Chronicle® – Asia Pacific: Opportunities & Challenges

Dear Readers,

This edition of the CPI Antitrust Chronicle^® sets out recent antitrust enforcement, policy and legislative developments and trends in the Asia-Pacific (“APAC”) region. The APAC region represents one of the most dynamic geographic regions in the world economy in recent years, as it occupies an increasingly important role in global supply chains and world geopolitics. As a result, practitioners are well-advised to keep their finger on the pulse of developments in this region across all policy areas, including in particular antitrust.

Antitrust is a growth area in APAC. As Ruben Maximiano, Wouter Meester & Leni Papa outline, APAC includes a mix of well-established, experienced competition authorities, including those from OECD member countries (Australia, Korea, Japan, and New Zealand) and a larger number of younger authorities. As the authors outline, each authority is at a distinct stage in the maturity of the development of its competition enforcement practice, as is reflected in the activities of its authorities, particularly in terms of competition advocacy. In particular, as the authors set out in detail, APAC authorities’ advocacy activities are becoming more pronounced as the region emerges from the worst effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

APAC is no different from the rest of the world insofar as it is grappling with the conundrum of how to apply competition principles to the ever-dynamic tech sector. Perhaps unsurprisingly, APAC countr