Asia Pacific: Opportunities & Challenges – A Global Call for Competition Policy Advocacy

Recognizing the economic opportunity and potential Asia-Pacific countries offer, the present article seeks to leverage competition advocacy tools for building and strengthening competition culture in particular and overall socio-economic improvement, as a whole. The second section of the paper highlights a few Asia-Pacific region-specific illustrations of such competition advocacy tools, before segueing into the fundamental role a competition policy can play. Lastly, the challenges faced by developing countries which have to be considered before incorporating the advocacy tools are highlighted. The article is a global call for the incorporation of active competition advocacy in Asia-Pacific regions.

By Pradeep S. Mehta[1]

The Asia-Pacific region presents multiple opportunities as global supply chains are heavily dependent on it and in fact, now forms the center of gravity of the global economy.^[2]  

In economic terms, this region accounts for almost 37 percent of the world’s Gross Domestic Product (“GDP”), at purchasing power parity^[3] and being the largest regional economy, it is estimated to account for more than half the world’s GDP.^[4] Moreover, with the recent Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (“RCEP”) of the Asia-Pacific, the trade effects are estimated to spiral by approximately two percent, i.e. to the tune of nearly USD 42bn.^[5]

Since the region comprises of diverse dynamic, transiting and developing economies which have been