Competition in the New ASEAN Economy

Abstract:Shifts in global trade, technological developments and the COVID-19 pandemic all provide an opportunity for Southeast Asia to grow its digital economy and accelerate economic recovery. Market dynamics are changing, with the rise of online platforms catering to the growing base of digitally literate consumers. Such platforms offer a wide choice of products and services at greater convenience, across borders and through different participants in the supply chain. Existing markets are becoming more competitive and new markets are being created as businesses benefit from digital technologies and draw insights from large volumes of available data. However, as the digital economy expands, sophisticated forms of anticompetitive behaviour are also emerging. Around the world, there are concerns that online platforms are becoming dominant and engaging in harmful conduct, such as collecting and using customer data—without consent—to exclude current and future competitors. Southeast Asia is vulnerable to these concerns, too. Using case studies, this study highlights why such concerns, if left unaddressed, pose a threat to competition in the "new" ASEAN economy.