PresentationsKeynote Speech: Aubeck Kam
COMPETITION POLICY IN ASIA: MOVING TOWARDS CONVERGENCE
Aubeck KAM (Chairman, Competition Commission of Singapore) delivered the keynote speech, underlining that we have seen significant progress in the development and enforcement of competition law in Asia in the last decade. Multilateral efforts have been made and the process towards convergence has been helped by the sharing of knowledge that takes place in fora such as the OECD and the ICN. Some would consider that the ultimate success for this process of convergence would be the emergence of a common competition policy and law expanding to all of Asia, but it is unrealistic to expect that such an objective will be achieved any time soon, mainly due to the diversity characterising the Asian region and the different stages of development of competition law and policy across Asia. The Regional Free Trade Agreements do not contemplate such a goal, even as a remote possibility. According to Kam, the focus must be put on identifying the specific situations in which taking a “one size fits all” approach is desirable.