2022 has been an interesting year as the world emerged from the pandemic. Hard core restrictions from the pandemic are all but gone and face-to-face meetings are starting to become the norm again. We are not quite at the fervour that we were at pre-pandemic, although the chorus would agree that 2021 remains an exceptional year.
Going into 2023, the prognosis is that it is going to be a challenging year with headwinds. Yet, this may not be the case for competition and antitrust laws, where numerous developments abound.
Competition law enforcement is seemingly taking a front-seat in the region. There is a re-focus on investigations, with some focus on but not limited to essential products against a backdrop of persistent inflation. The expiry of more relaxed pandemic-era merger filing thresholds will also make the regulatory environment more complex for businesses as we go into the new year. Regulators across the region seem primed to gear up with potential raids and more to ensure fair competition in the market.
Another fast developing theme in the region is the increasing focus on digital and e-commerce markets. Food delivery platforms have now been investigated in multiple South-east Asian countries and more than once in Singapore, whilst the large technology companies have faced scrutiny by regulators in the region too. Importantly, regional regulators have been upskilling and preparing themselves for further cases in digital and e-commerce markets.
The Rajah & Tann Asia Competition & Antitrust Team continues to be at the forefront of competition law cases in the region being involved in practically all the major investigations and every major merger occurring directly or indirectly. To illustrate, our Indonesia team acted in the blockbuster Gojek / GoTo merger while the Thailand team is currently involved in the precedent-setting True / DTAC merger. The Singapore team is involved in a number of matters including the tie up between SIA, Tata and Air India which consists of various moving parts. In Malaysia, we helped obtain sectoral clearance for Celcom / Digi merger and SIA Engineering / Pos Aviation.
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