Technical assistance is very important for countries that are considering the adoption of a system of competition law or which have recently done so. There is an abundance of assistance available.
- International Competition Network (ICN)
Membership to the ICN is open to all national or multi-national competition authorities. Application for membership should be made to Dr. Dae Hyung Kang of the Korea Fair Trade Commission.
One of the working groups of the ICN is concerned with the issue of technical assistance for competition authorities in developing countries. An important project currently under way is to assess the effectiveness of past technical assistance projects in order to learn what lessons there may be for the future: a report was submitted at the meeting of the ICN held in Bonn in June 2005. An inventory of technical assistance projects that have been launched since 1990 will be found in the ICN's website.
The ICN has established a fund-raising group to assist with the generation of financial support for countries wishing to participate in its events but which face severe resource constraints. It seeks support from multi-national donor groups, national technical assistance bodies, and not-for-profit organizations such as private foundations.
- Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
The important work of the OECD has been referred to throughout this toolkit. It has capacity building and regional competition centers in Budapest and Seoul. The Seoul Regional Centre for Competition is a joint venture between the Korean Fair Trade Commission and the OECD. It opened in May 2004 and it helps competition authorities in the Asian region to develop and implement effective competition law and policy. Its activities are focused on Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taipei,China, Thailand, and Vietnam.
See a list of planned capacity building events planned by the Seoul Regional Centre.
- United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
UNCTAD fulfills an important role in providing technical assistance to developing countries that have adopted, or intend to adopt, a domestic system of competition law.
- US Outreach Programs
The Federal Trade Commission provides technical assistance to countries in the developing world.
- The International Development Research Centre (IDRC)
The IDRC may provide research grants to competition authorities in developing countries to study competition issues. In the autumn of 2005, it invited applications for up to ten grants of CAN$50,000 to study issues in the distribution sector.
- Consumer Unity & Trust Society (CUTS) Institute for Regulation and Competition
The CUTS Institute for Regulation and Competition is actively involved in the provision of lectures and training seminars on all aspects of competition policy. CUTS published a book entitled, Competition Regimes in the World - A Civil Society Report.
See the CUTS Competition, Regulation and Development Research Forum.
- Asian Competition Forum
The Asian Competition Forum has been established with a series of objectives, which include the research into competition policy and law issues, to propose the adoption of appropriate policy and legal strategies for the Asian regional and national markets and to provide competition policy and legal education and training for government officials, professional, academics, and students through conferences, seminars, and multimedia channels.
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