Singapore signed the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (“ASEAN“) Framework Agreement on Competition (“AFAC“) at the 57th ASEAN Economic Ministers’ Meeting held from 23 to 26 September 2025.
The AFAC aims to promote greater awareness and enforcement of competition law policies across the region. This will make such regimes more rigorous, consistent, and transparent, thus creating a level playing field for businesses with safeguards against anti-competitive practices.
- Cooperation and enforcement: The AFAC will enhance the capacity of ASEAN member states to address anti-competitive activities and to foster a fair and competitive business environment regionally via cross-border cooperation between competition agencies. The AFAC will also complement regional cooperation through the ASEAN Experts Group on Competition and regional enforcement activities, which will allow for more effective investigation of anti-competitive conduct and competition issues of mutual interest across borders.
- Law and policy: The AFAC aims to elevate the quality of ASEAN regional and domestic economic and competition policies and laws, by building on existing competition provisions in current ASEAN agreements (e.g. the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, and the Agreement Establishing the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area).
As markets become more integrated in the region, cooperation between competition agencies becomes more vital as it will help to: (i) save resources and avoid duplication of efforts; (ii) facilitate the sharing of experiences; and (iii) provide consistency of decisions in resolving anti-competitive disputes or at least non-conflicting outcomes.
The signing of the AFAC signals a significant shift for businesses operating within Southeast Asia, as it heralds a more harmonised and stringent competition law environment across the region. Businesses can expect increased scrutiny of their market practices especially in cross-border transactions, as regional competition agencies are expected to cooperate more closely and share information to investigate and take decisive enforcement action against anti-competitive conduct. Further, businesses will need to ensure that their operations, agreements, and market behaviours are compliant not only with domestic competition laws but also with evolving regional standards.
Such increased consistency and transparency in enforcement and policy is welcomed, as it is expected to provide a more predictable environment for fair competition and investment. This will amply set the stage for businesses to enact proactive compliance reviews, staff training, and legal risk assessments, which will become increasingly important to avoid penalties and reputational damage.
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