The head of Korea’s top antitrust watchdog will introduce policies toward conglomerates to high-ranking officials in the Philippines at a competition forum held in Manila that began on Thursday.

The two-day Forum on Competition is being hosted by the Philippine Competition Commission with the aim of discussing competition policies involving conglomerates and SMEs. It is attended by high-ranking officials from Japan, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the World Bank.

During the forum, the FTC Chairman Kim Sang-jo will speak about how an excessive concentration of economic power negatively influences a nation and the market economy under the theme of conglomerates and competition policies.

He will also present how policies toward conglomerates positively influence the strength of SMEs competitiveness and builds a fair trade economy.

Kim is also expected to meet with Arsenio Balisacan, chairperson of the Philippine Competition Commission, to discuss how to support the Philippines’ competition policies. The bilateral meeting follows Balisacan’s early request in September for technical support on how to effectively enforce competition laws.

“Kim’s speech and meeting with the competition authorities in the Philippines will be a good opportunity to spread Korea’s conglomerate policies and experiences of law enforcement,” a FTC spokesperson said.

Separately from the forum, the antitrust watchdog leader plans to meet with Korean companies doing business in the Philippines, including Samsung Electronics and Easy Bio System, to urge them to make efforts not to prevent the Philippines competition law implemented in September. The competition law is expected to be actively enforced soon. 

By Shin Ji-hye (shinjh@heraldcorp.com)