Singapore's competition policies lagging in Asia =

Singapore's competition policies lagging in Asia =

Doutsche Press-Agentur
Singapore

Among the leaders in Asia when it comes to financial services
and IT adoption, Singapore lags in competition policies, a law
firm said on Tuesday.

Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Japan and South Korea
have competition laws in place and Malaysia is currently looking
at one, according to Rajah & Tann.

A new competition law, which aims to stop price-fixing and
other anti-competitive activities by individuals and
organizations, is expected to become law on January 1 next year.

The ministry of trade and industry has released a draft bill
for public consultation in hopes the new law will prompt
businesses that traditionally relied on agreements within their
industry or groups to review their operations to comply with the
statute.

Noting that Australia has had competition laws for at least 35
to 40 years, Kala Anandarajah, a partner at Rajah & Tann, also
mentioned the European countries and U.S.

"So Singapore, in that sense, is actually a new kid on the
block," The Business Times quoted Anandarajah as saying.

"In a open economy like Singapore's, unfair tactics may well
be adopted by a big player which is not a Singapore-based
entity," said Kim Seah, a member of the Law Reform Committee.

Once the law is in effect, "We will then be on a more level
ground with many other developed economies," he added.