MALAYSIA COMPETITION COMMISSION (MyCC) – ASEAN EXPERTS GROUP ON COMPETITION (AEGC) WORKSHOP ON INVESTIGATION AND CASE-HANDLING

THE HON. TAN SRI DATO’ SERI SITI NORMA YAAKOB

MALAYSIA COMPETITION COMMISSION (MyCC)
– ASEAN EXPERTS GROUP ON COMPETITION (AEGC) WORKSHOP ON INVESTIGATION AND CASE-HANDLING
17 JUNE 2014
BEST WESTERN HOTEL, KUALA LUMPUR

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim
Assalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh,

The Hon. Dato’ Sri Hasan bin Malek
Minister of Domestic Trade, Co-operatives & Consumerism

<VIPs>

Distinguished Members of the Commission; TS we will inform you tomorrow morning who is actually coming

Madam Shila Dorai Raj;
Chief Executive Officer of MyCC

Delegates from the ASEAN countries;
Representatives from the ASEAN Secretariat and the GIZ;
Representatives from the Ministry of Domestic Trade,
Co-operatives & Consumerism;

Distinguished Speakers;

Ladies and Gentlemen,
A very good morning. Before I begin, let me first take this opportunity to thank the Honorable Dato’ Sri Hasan bin Malek, Minister of Domestic Trade, Co-operatives & Consumerism for his gracious presence here this morning and to officiate this workshop today.

Please also permit me to take this opportunity to express my appreciation to the ASEAN Secretariat, the GIZ, and the speakers for their commitment and cooperation in putting together this programme. To all the ASEAN delegates present here today, thank you too.

Distinguished Guests,

The last decade has seen the introduction of competition law regulation in several of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). As you know, the implementation of a nation-wide competition policy and law by 2015 is a prerequisite for the ASEAN Member States in fulfilment of the goals of the 2007 ASEAN Economic Blueprint to enhance regional economic performance.

In endeavoring to meet these economic goals, Malaysia established the Competition Commission or MyCC in 2011. We have since been busy both in advocacy and enforcement to ensure the effective implementation of our Competition Act 2010, which was enforced beginning January 1st, 2012.

The ASEAN Experts Group on Competition has been an invaluable resource for an upcoming Commission such as the MyCC. As such we are very glad to be part of and to jointly host this Workshop on Investigation and Case Handling. As we know, effective enforcement is vital for effective implementation of policies. And effective enforcement is contingent on good investigation and case-handling, and as such, holding this workshop is a timely move.

Distinguished Guests,

This workshop is a follow through from the AEGC Brainstorming Meeting on Capacity Building Needs in May 2013, where it was agreed that there was a need to strengthen the core competencies for investigation and case-handling of agencies with an enforcement record.

As such, the framework for this workshop was built on the earlier work of the AEGC, most notably the “Guidelines for Developing Core Competencies in Competition Policy and Law for ASEAN”, Chapter II on Enforcement, and to take into account existing good practices from other jurisdictions and the experiences of more advanced agencies. Moving forward, this inaugural workshop could be the starting point for participating member states to undergo more in-depth training.

Distinguished Guests,

As a relatively new agency, the MyCC places a high priority on capacity building. With investigation and enforcement being the core of any competition agency, the objectives of this workshop which is to provide practice-oriented investigation and case-handling advice and training, with focus on steps to address the different types of infringements is very much focused on the needs of a competition authority.  Additionally the workshop will enable delegates to learn from international and or regional experiences and case studies.

While the MyCC is still relatively new, and while in terms of investigation, we have 31 active cases on our plate, we have realized that enforcement is indeed the best advocacy as in our experience, businesses began to realize the implications of the Act when investigations were announced by us. However, as a young enforcer, there is still so much to be gained from the wealth of experience, jurisprudence and competition policy knowledge from more mature jurisdictions. Therefore, a platform such as this where sharing experiences from mature jurisdictions and experienced economic analysts, is more important than ever. As we also note, the number of enforces are set to grow, especially when all ASEAN members states need to have a competition regime in place by 2015. Both old and new regimes then will have to adjust to accommodate each other.

Distinguished Guests,

In closing, allow me to thank once again everyone present here today. A special thanks goes to our counterpart, the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC), to enable Senior Investigator for International Cartels Mr. Katsunori Inaguma, to be a speaker at this Workshop at JFTC’s own expenses.

I also sincerely look forward to further strengthening of ties between the ASEAN Member States through cooperative programmes such as this workshop.

I wish all of you a warm welcome. Thank you.

Wabillahitaufikwalhidayah, wassalamualikum w.b.t.

Prepared by: Malaysia Competition Commission (MyCC)
Date: 16 June 2014