Summary:
Le 24 septembre 2025, la 11e Conférence de la concurrence de l’ASEAN s’est ouverte à Singapore, organisée par la Commission de la concurrence et de la consommation de Singapour (CCCS). Cet événement met en avant l’engagement de l’ASEAN à favoriser des économies résilientes et inclusives grâce à des politiques de concurrence plus solides. Les annonces clés incluent le Plan d’action sur la concurrence de l’ASEAN 2026-2030 pour la collaboration en matière d’application régionale, ainsi que le lancement de l’outil AI Markets Toolkit pour aider les entreprises à se conformer aux normes de concurrence et de protection des consommateurs. Les développements futurs comprennent la mise en œuvre de l’ACAP 2026-2030 et l’utilisation continue d’outils comme l’AI Markets Toolkit pour renforcer l’intégration économique régionale d’ici 2030.
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The 11th ASEAN Competition Conference (ACC), held in Singapore on 24 September 2025, marks a watershed moment for economic cooperation and regulatory alignment within the ASEAN bloc. With the launch of the ASEAN Competition Action Plan (ACAP) 2026-2030 and the unveiling of the AI Markets Toolkit (AIM), this flagship event embodies ASEAN’s strategic pivot toward fostering competitive, innovative, and inclusive markets to enhance economic resilience across the region.
The legal landscape for competition policy in ASEAN finds its foundation in frameworks like the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) Blueprint 2025, which aims to ensure a highly integrated and cohesive economic bloc. Moreover, competition laws such as the Competition Act 2004 in Singapore and equivalent legislations across other ASEAN Member States (AMS) serve as pillars for maintaining open and fair markets. ACAP 2026-2030, launched at the conference, is a key extension of these efforts, outlining strategic priorities to deepen regional cooperation in antitrust enforcement and facilitate stronger cross-border regulatory coordination.
The conference comes at a pivotal time as ASEAN navigates external shocks, including supply chain disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic, geopolitical tensions involving trade realignments, and technological challenges brought about by the rapid digitalization of industries. Speaker Ms. Low Yen Ling, Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry, underscored the urgency of maintaining functional, competitive markets to support an economic ecosystem that could generate an estimated $540 billion in economic value while ensuring the creation of 12 million new jobs by 2030. These projections underscore the tangible value that competition policy can contribute to ASEAN’s economic aspirations.
From an ethical standpoint, the integration of the AIM Toolkit demonstrates a forward-thinking approach to balancing innovation with regulatory oversight. The toolkit, a collaboration between the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) and the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), enables businesses to evaluate their artificial intelligence (AI) systems for compliance with competition laws while safeguarding consumer rights. This is particularly critical in the era of algorithmic decision-making, where misuse of AI can exacerbate informational asymmetries, distort markets, or entrench monopolistic practices. For example, an online platform leveraging AI to prioritize certain vendors’ products over others may inadvertently harm smaller enterprises, undermining market fairness.
The implications for industries within ASEAN are significant. Nearly 95% of ASEAN businesses are Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), and these entities often lack resources to navigate anti-competitive behaviors perpetrated by larger corporations or transnational digital platforms. The ACC not only centers on addressing these challenges but also emphasizes cross-border regulatory cooperation. As noted by CCCS Chairman Max Loh, digital markets, by their nature, transcend national boundaries, necessitating shared strategies among AMS to ensure robust and consistent antitrust enforcement. The AIM Toolkit and ACAP 2026-2030 represent tools for bridging the enforcement gaps created by this borderless economic environment.
The broader ethical and economic impacts also include fostering an ecosystem that supports innovation without compromising key principles like market fairness and consumer protection. For example, the AIM Toolkit could aid a startup using machine-learning algorithms to design its supply chains to remain compliant with competition rules while still scaling operations efficiently. Such applications demonstrate how regulatory tools can serve as enablers rather than inhibitors of growth.
In conclusion, the 11th ACC embodies ASEAN’s commitment to a resilient and inclusive future. The dual focus on regional cooperation via the ACAP 2026-2030 and technological governance through the AIM Toolkit sets a precedent for synergizing economic expansion with ethical and legal integrity. These developments highlight ASEAN’s readiness to tackle 21st-century economic challenges while positioning itself as a globally competitive and socially responsible bloc.