7th East Asia Top Level Officials' Meeting on Competition Policy Agencies

14 September 2011

(View Media Release in PDF)

7th East Asia Top Level Officials' Meeting on Competition Policy Agencies

SINGAPORE, 14 September 2011 - Singapore will play host, for the first time, to the 7th East Asia Top Level Officials’ Meeting on Competition Policy (EATOP) on Thursday, 15 September 2011. The Meeting is organized by the Competition Commission of Singapore (CCS) and supported by the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC), Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI) and Singapore Business Federation (SBF).

The EATOP, which is a closed-door meeting for competition agencies and relevant public sector agencies to review recent developments on competition policy and law, aims to strengthen cooperation in competition work among East Asian economies. Some 50 top officials from ASEAN, China, Korea, Chinese Taipei, Mongolia and Japan, including several at the Chairman level, are attending the EATOP.

Since its establishment in 2005, the EATOP has been instrumental in facilitating discussions and exchanges on competition issues among senior officials from East Asia. Past EATOP were held in South Korea in 2010 and Mongolia in 2009. The next EATOP will be held in Malaysia in 2012.

As in recent years, the EATOP is held in conjunction with the East Asia Conference (EAC). The 6th EAC, which is organized by CCS, is an invitation-only event for government officials, business leaders, competition professionals and academia to network and exchange ideas on emerging competition issues in the region, will take place on Friday, 16 September 2010.

About The Competition Commission of Singapore (CCS)

The Competition Commission of Singapore ("CCS") is a statutory body established under the Competition Act (Chapter 50B) on 1 January 2005 to administer and enforce the Act. It comes under the purview of the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

Since the Commission was established in 2005, it has been responsible for investigating cases pertaining to anti-competitive practices, including price fixing and abuse of dominance and mergers that substantially lessen competition. Besides enforcement work, the Commission is also an active advocate in helping businesses understand and adopt competitive practices.

For more information, please visit www.ccs.gov.sg.

About the Japan Fair Trade Commission

The Japan Fair Trade Commission, a body in the Japanese Government, is responsible for enforcing Japan’s Antimonopoly Act and the Subcontract Act.

For more information, please visit http://www.jftc.go.jp/en/

About Asian Development Bank Institute

The Asian Development Bank Institute was established in 1997 in Tokyo, Japan, to help build capacity, skills, and knowledge related to poverty reduction and other areas that support long-term growth and competitiveness in developing economies in the Asia-Pacific region. It work covers applied research and policy seminars to disseminate thinking about best practices, and a range of capacity building and training initiatives. Looking to the future, a key aim for ADBI is to become a leading center for the creation and dissemination of information and knowledge on development in the Asia-Pacific region.

For more information, please visit http://www.adbi.org/

About Singapore Business Federation

The SBF is the apex business chamber that champions the interests of the Singapore business community in trade, investment and industrial relations. It represents more than 17,000 companies as well as the local and foreign business chambers and key national and industry associations from business sectors that contribute significantly to the Singapore economy.

For more information, please visit http://www.sbf.org.sg/