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.