A total of 25 competition officials from nine ASEAN Member States convened on 22-23 September for a Media and Advocacy Workshop to discuss the importance of competition agencies engaging with the media and various strategies for doing so.

The workshop was part of the multi-phase Competition Law Implementation Programme (CLIP) supported by the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area (AANZFTA) Economic Cooperation Support Programme (AECSP). The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), along with the Philippine Competition Commission, the Hong Kong Competition Commission and the Viet Nam Competition and Consumer Authority presented and shared their experiences on a variety of media related topics, including media strategies, use of traditional media and social media engagement.

Participants learned about practical experiences and understanding of the media’s role, perceptions of competition law in the media, implications of COVID-19 on media strategy and use of the media to promote competition and new competition laws and regulations. They also discussed an increase in reliance on social media during the pandemic, as well as various social media campaigns undertaken by competition agencies.

“The workshop was great. It has increased our knowledge of how we interact with the media, be that traditional or social media. We now know how to better engage with the media, how media campaigns benefit competition authorities, and we also understand how to target our audience more effectively,” said Intan Putri, Head of the Public Relations Division of the Indonesia Competition Commission.

At the workshop, Roger Christie, Managing Director of Propel Group, gave a presentation on the use of social media, meanwhile John Durie, competition journalist, provided the media’s perspective on the interaction between a competition agency and traditional media.

“It was an honour to be a part of the workshop and discuss the media with ASEAN officials. Not only did I enjoy the discussion, I learnt a lot from the practices of the ASEAN agencies,” said John Durie.  

Promoting the work of competition agencies through media and other channels is an essential part of creating a competition-aware ASEAN. Participating countries in the workshop were Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Viet Nam.

The ACCC delivered this activity in collaboration with the ASEAN Secretariat and the AANZFTA Support Unit (ASU). In its fourth phase, CLIP focuses on supporting ASEAN competition agencies to build knowledge and practical expertise in the region by sharing resources, skills, and techniques for effective competition law implementation.

For more information, please contact the ASU at aanzfta_inquiry@asean.org.