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Toolkit for Competition
Advocacy in ASEAN
Toolkit for Competition
Advocacy in ASEAN
♦
Develop and implement an
annual communications
plan with specific activities
targeted at the key stakeholder
groups identified.
♦
Promote and publish
information on the activities
of the CA that is easy to
understand for all
stakeholder groups.
♦
Work with the business
community to develop user-
friendly guidance on competition
law compliance.
♦
Understand the situation;
♦
Understand the stakeholders,
their positions and views;
♦
Identify target audiences;
♦
Formulate the right
messages and determine the
right messenger to deliver
those messages;
♦
Identify processes, opportunities
and entry points for advocacy;
♦
Recognise capacity and
gaps/SWOT;
♦
Accept and seek
opportunities and invitations to
speak on competition issues,
for example at luncheon talks at
business representative bodies
and educational institutions,
as well as participation at
international conferences/
seminars/ trade shows.
♦
Explore new communication
strategies and channels that
could be usefully employed for
greater outreach and impact,
such as social media and IT
applications.
♦
Set goals and interim outcomes, develop
an action plan; and
♦
Monitor and evaluate results.
♦
Expand and maintain a network
of sustainable relationships
with key stakeholders who also
have a professional interest in
promoting competition in the
market.
♦
Ensure that the aims, messaging
and outcomes from advocacy
and enforcement strategies and
activities are consistent and do
not conflict with one another.
Effective CPL relies on effective advocacy and enforcement. In order to avoid giving different
messages to stakeholders, it is critical that a CA’s advocacy and enforcement activities are not
only implemented, but also communicated in a consistent manner. In doing so, a CA may take
the following into account:
For AMS that have just introduced a national competition law, advocacy efforts should
focus on building awareness among the general public and business community. This includes
disseminating information on the benefits of competition law to consumers, and reaching out to
businesses on the need to comply with competition law. The creation of an advocacy plan
within an overall advocacy strategy could help a CA to:
Given limited resources, the CA must prioritise its
advocacy activities, based on various considerations, such
as broader regional and national developments; the stage
of the competition regime; as well as the availability of
human and financial resources.
1) What do we want to achieve
with the advocacy activity?
(Understand the situation)
Every CA must understand the
problems, issues and solutions
related to CPL in the respective
AMS. Introducing CPL cannot,
and will not, bring an immediate
change to the way markets work.
Therefore, it is useful to identify
long-term goals (policy change),
medium-term goals (process
outcomes) and short-term goals
(immediate outputs). This also
serves to better assess resource
allocation.
2) Who can make it happen?
(Understand the stakeholders,
their positions and views)
Once the CA set their objectives,
it is necessary to understand
the people or institutions that
need change. This would
include formal authorities (such
as legislators), and those with
capacity to influence (e.g.
media, constituencies, influential
politicians, key ministries, and
agencies covering various issues,
including trade and economy,
finance, agriculture, defense and
education). A useful exercise at
this stage is mapping in detail the
interests, influence and importance
of different stakeholders.
3) What do they need to
hear? (Formulating the right
messages)
Messages must be persuasive,
consistent and easy to understand.
As such, they should have two
basic components:
♦
Appeal to what is right;
♦
Appeal to the audience’s
self-interest.
It is important to be clear about
what stakeholders need and
want to hear. Evidence-based
In trying to identify the tools for advocacy, the following questions could be addressed during
the creation of an advocacy plan:
messages (e.g. case studies) can
help illustrate competition issues
in a way that makes it easier for
stakeholders to understand
and relate.
4) Who do they need to hear it
from? (The right messenger to
deliver those messages)
The same message can have a
different impact if conveyed by
different people. A CA must identify
the appropriate messengers. As
CPL can be technical in nature,
legal language should be avoided
unless when dealing with a legal
audience. Messengers such as the
heads of the institution have a very
strong impact. Messengers can
also come from outside of the CA.
It is important to consider trainings
or briefings for messengers (e.g.
by preparing talking points or
practice session} in order to ensure
consistent dissemination
of messages.
5) How can we make sure they
hear it? (Identify processes,
opportunities and entry points)
The decision on a suitable
approach for advocacy should be
based on evaluating advocacy
goals, the specific context and
messages. This could also involve
identifying opportunities in the
decision-making process, working
with mass media and collaborating
with other external partners. It
is vital to identify opportunities
that have the potential to raise
the profile of an issue and exert
influence by bringing together
supporters (and those who can be
convinced to become supporters),
as well as decision-makers who
can help bring about changes.
Networking with officials at both
public and private functions
provides a good opportunity
for this.
6) What do the AMS have and
what do they need? (Recognise
capacity and gaps/SWOT)
Most of the AMS are in the initial
stages of implementing CPL.
Advocacy resources are limited,
both in terms of human resources
and literature/information on CPL. It
is therefore necessary to take stock
of resources and identify what is
needed. Working out alliances with
academia and think tanks, both
within the AMS and across ASEAN,
can help mobilise additional
resources for advocacy activities.
7) How to initiate action? (Set
goals and interim outcomes;
develop an action plan)
In order to take advocacy from
planning to action, it is necessary
set clear goals and interim
outcomes, deciding the type of
activities to conduct, as well as
allocating a budget. Once all the
above preparation is done, these
elements come together in the
advocacy action plan. Its purpose is
to detail all the activities, who will
be responsible, timelines, as well
as the resources required.
8) How to tell if advocacy efforts
are working? (Monitor and
evaluate results)
It is important for the CA to review
the progress of advocacy efforts on
a regular basis, in order to allow
for adjustments where necessary.
Monitoring and evaluation are
key tools to ensure the strategy
is working. Some indicators of
successful advocacy are improved
policies; change in public
perception; increased alliances with
the CA; as well as a strengthened
base of support for the CA.
