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Toolkit for Competition
Advocacy in ASEAN
Toolkit for Competition
Advocacy in ASEAN
Purpose of the toolkit
The purpose of this toolkit is to provide AMS with practical guidance,
tools and templates to develop and deliver advocacy activities for CPL. It is
primarily intended for by CA in ASEAN, including Commission members, heads
of departments, communications staff and case-handlers. Additionally, the contents
of this toolkit may be shared with partners outside of the CA in joint efforts to
foster a broad-based competition culture in ASEAN.
Determining which advocacy activity is most appropriate depends on the
specific stakeholder groups that CA intend to engage. These comprise
government agencies and other public authorities, businesses (including trade
and business associations), media, consumers, academia, the legal community,
and the judiciary. This toolkit provides advice on how to best target different groups
and which messages need to be chosen. Articulating the right message for the
right stakeholder group is key to carrying out successful advocacy activities.
As a “living document”, this toolkit contains a collection of case studies from
AMS that describe successful advocacy approaches and outcomes. As CPL
implementation in AMS progresses, more case studies may be added to the
toolkit, along with further tools and templates.
The scope and content of advocacy
activities in each AMS can vary according to
country-specific considerations and priorities. It
is therefore important to understand the specific
context or setting that the advocacy activity takes
place in, along with the objectives and desired
outcomes. The main objectives of competition
advocacy are two-fold:
Fostering a competition culture:
Creating a transparent, reputable and
self-compliant community that discourages
anti-competitive behaviour and encourages
wider economic prosperity.
Reducing competition restrictions:
Addressing and eliminating restrictive laws and
anti-competitive practices that are barriers to free
and fair trade.
Advocacy can range from mere awareness-raising
about competition issues to advocating towards a
specific competition reform or policy objective. The
former can be a continuous activity of competition
authorities (CA), particularly in the initial stages
of implementing a competition law. The latter, on
the other hand, often relies on a certain political
momentum and requires more strategic thought.
REDUCING
COMPETITION
RESTRICTIONS
FOSTERING A
COMPETITION
CULTURE
When developing an advocacy strategy and identifying objectives, a CA may refer to the following tips:
Keep objectives manageable
and realistic.
♦
Focus on the core issue, as overly ambitious advocacy plans will have
a low chance of success.
Set out long-, medium- and
short-term goals for the
advocacy strategy.
♦
Long-term goal:
Results or impacts that the CA wishes to achieve
by the end of the advocacy campaign (e.g. increased competition
compliance by businesses measured through a number of compliance
programmes introduced; or increased awareness of competition issues
measured through a survey undertaken).
♦
Medium-term goals:
Milestones towards achieving the long-term goal
and as benchmarks for the CA to measure progress.
♦
Short-term goals:
Immediate outputs (e.g. in a year, the CA can set a
target of 50 advocacy activities, of which 20 may be geared towards the
public sector, 20 towards businesses and 10 towards civil society).
Developing an advocacy strategy and plan
A sound and comprehensive advocacy strategy is essential for a CA to
encourage a broad-based competition culture. If planned in a strategic manner
and implemented effectively, advocacy can help educate and engage the general
public; increase business compliance with competition laws; integrate competition
issues into policy decisions or debates; and ultimately empower a CA.
In conducting advocacy activities, the CA does not have to act on its own.
The media and other stakeholders, such as academics or business member
organisations, can also play an important role in “getting the word out” on
competition.
The CA should be clear on the exact objective it is seeking to achieve through
advocacy. The advocacy objectives should be aligned with the overall strategy of
the CA, not least in order to complement and substantiate enforcement efforts. For
instance, is the objective of advocacy to raise basic awareness of competition law
among the general public; to encourage businesses to put in place competition
compliance frameworks; or to ensure that government agencies include
competition considerations in developing new policies?
Section 1:
Planning advocacy activities
This section provides guidance on developing an advocacy strategy and key
considerations for tailoring advocacy activities to the specific country context. It also
contains a comprehensive description of core stakeholder groups and their importance
in the context of competition advocacy. The list may not be exhaustive as each
AMS may choose to also address other core stakeholders that play a critical role in
advancing CPL.
