The DOJ-Office for Competition (OFC), as the designated Competition Authority of the Philippines through Executive Order No. 45, series of 2011, is hosting the 11th Meeting of the ASEAN Experts Group on Competition (AEGC) on 25-26 March 2013 at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila in Pasay City.

Delegates from Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam will witness the handover of the Chairmanship of the AEGC for 2013-2014 from Brunei  Darussalam to the Philippines. 

Secretary Leila M. De Lima will deliver the Welcome Remarks for this historic event as it will be the first time that the Philippines will assume the Chairmanship of the AEGC.

"The Philippines is much honored for the trust and confidence that our ASEAN neighbors have bestowed on us. Our pro-active stance in advancing competition policy and law is being recognized regionally and globally," said Secretary De Lima.

The AEGC is a forum to discuss and cooperate on competition policy and law. The ASEAN Economic Ministers endorsed its establishment in August 2007. It first met in 2008 and has agreed to focus for the next three to five years on building up competition-related policy capabilities and best practices in ASEAN Member States.

The OFC, headed by Assistant Secretary Geronimo L. Sy, was created by EO 45 designating the DOJ as the Competition Authority. Its mandate is to investigate all cases involving violations of competition laws and prosecute violators, enforce competition policies and  laws tor protect consumers from abusive, fraudulent, or harmful corrupt businesspractices and supervise competition in markets, among others.

The Philippines also has the honor of being requested by the Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN for ASEAN Economic Community, Dr. Lim Hong Hin, to act as co-hair of the  2nd Meeting of the Project Steering Committee (PSC) for ASEAN-German Cooperation Project on Competition Policy and Law (CPL) that will be held on  27 March 2013 at the same venue.

The CPL Project is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). It strives to enhance the legal framework, institutional set-up and capacities for promoting competition in the ASEAN Member States. This is in accordance with the commitment of ASEAN for the introduction of nation-wide competition policy in ASEAN Member States by  2015 when the ASEAN Economic Community will come into effect.