On 19–21 May 2026, competition authorities and experts from across Asia and the Pacific gathered in Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China, for the ADB-OECD-KPC Workshop on Tools to Assess Markets’ Competition: Market Studies and Market Investigations. ADB co-hosted the three-day workshop with the OECD-Korea Policy Centre (KPC) Competition Programme and the PRC’s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR).  

The workshop focused on the role of market studies and market investigations as tools for assessing competition across entire markets, alongside case-by-case enforcement. Discussions explored several key themes, including: 

• Legal basis and design of market studies in different jurisdictions  
• Selection of markets and set the scope of an inquiry,  
• Gathering and analyzing evidence economically.  
• Challenges of digital and data-driven markets.

ADB led a session on Economic Analysis and Market Investigations: Opportunities and Use Cases, with speakers Yesim Elhan-Kayalar, Advisor, Office of the Chief Economist; Yothin Jinjarak, Senior Economist, East Asia Department; and Rolando Avendano, Economist, Economic Research and Development Impact Department. The session tackled the importance of economic analysis in finding and diagnosing competition problems and designing effective responses. ADB’s participation reflects its ongoing commitment to supporting fair, contestable, and well-functioning markets across the region. 

Among the competition authorities in attendance were the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC), the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC), France’s Autorité de la Concurrence (ADLC), the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCS), the Malaysia Competition Commission (MyCC), and the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC). 

For more program details, view here.