In November 2018, the OECD/KPC Competition Programme held a bilateral seminar in Hanoi, Vietnam dedicated to providing capacity building to the recently revised competition act and is drafting decrees. Currently, the Vietnam Competition and Consumer Authority is drafting decrees on merger. In that context, the OECD/KPC provided a seminar that was dedicated to the topic with the view of providing valuable inputs into their drafting process, Competition Economics and Mergers.

To do so the OECD/KPC counted on the commitment and the kind participation of the Mr. Jongbae Park of the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC), Dr. João Gata of Portuguese Competition Authority (PCA), and Mr. Derek Ritzmann of Economics Partners. All the agencies present and their representatives had solid backgrounds in the topics and this allowed for a wide diversity of views and a wealth of experience that was crucial for a very rich discussion.

This was an event that allowed participants to understand how the economics played a role in a competition law enforcement process, more specifically in mergers. The format allowed for setting a theoretical base upon which then the practical cases brought were built upon which then allowed for open and informed discussions that were lively and always interesting.