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COPCOMER
In advocating pro-competition regulations to effectively balance
policy objectives and competition that benefit both businesses and
consumers, CCS proactively engages government agencies to help
them understand competition issues and gives due consideration
to competition issues arising from government policies. Established
in December 2013, the Community of Practice for Competition and
Economic Regulations (“COPCOMER”) is an inter-agency platform
for CCS, sectoral competition regulators and a few other government
agencies to share best practices and experiences on competition
and regulatory matters. Through this exchange, COPCOMER seeks
to encourage the adoption of effective regulatory and competition
policies based on local experiences and international best practices.
In FY2016, CCS organised two COPCOMER Seminars that touched
on industries and topics that interest COPCOMER members. These
seminars generated lively discussions and facilitated the exchange of
ideas and experiences across COPCOMER member agencies.
In the first seminar in June 2016, COPCOMER invited Professor Phang
Sock Yong, Celia Moh Chair Professor of Economics at the Singapore
Management University (“SMU”), to speak on alternative price
regulatory regimes used in Singapore. At the same seminar, the
Maritime Port Authority of Singapore (“MPA”) presented an overview
of Singapore’s ports and their importance to Singapore’s economy and
shared with attendees MPA’s role as a port planner and regulator.
In November 2016, COPCOMER organised its second seminar of the
year which focused on the theme of disruptive innovations. The Civil
Aviation Authority of Singapore (“CAAS”) was invited to share its
experience of regulating drone operations in Singapore, and CCS
shared its findings from its International Competition Network Report:
Government Advocacy and Disruptive Innovations.
As part of its effort to facilitate the sharing of technical skills,
COPCOMER organised a technical workshop on interview and
investigation techniques in July 2016. The session, conducted by CCS,
GOVERNMENT ADVOCACY
covered investigative powers available to CCS under the Competition
Act and how agencies with similar powers can adopt these interview
and investigative techniques to aid them in their investigations. The
session also included a mock dawn raid session where participants
applied the interview and investigation techniques learnt. Participants
learnt to plan for a dawn raid, and how to deal with issues that arise in
the course of a dawn raid.
Ms. Ng Ee Kia and Prof. Phang Sock Yong at the
COPCOMER Seminar on 24 June 2016.
ANNUAL REPORT 2016
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