RI to support business competition rule in Myanmar, Brunei

The Indonesian government says it will push Myanmar and Brunei to adopt a regulation on business competition so that the two countries are on an equal footing with other ASEAN states, which have all implemented the rule.

“The business competition rule has faced resistance in [Myanmar and Brunei],” Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KKPU) chief Nawir Messi said Wednesday as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

He added that Myanmar had found it difficult to adopt the rule because of a political backlash against it, while in Brunei most businesses are owned by the Sultan.

According to Nawir, having such a regulation in every ASEAN nation was an essential step toward building a competitive and non-discriminatory business environment in the region. Without regulation, it would be extremely difficult to resolve business problems between nations, he said.

On Tuesday, Bali hosted the 9th ASEAN Expert Group on Competition meeting, which discussed the need to accelerate the adoption of the business competition rule in ASEAN countries.