The sixth ASEAN-OECD Good Regulatory Practice Network (GRPN) meeting was held virtually through a series of three webinars, from August to December 2020, under the theme of Better Regulation for Post COVID-19 Recovery. The GRPN is co-chaired by Malaysia and New Zealand, and hosted this year by Viet Nam and supported by the United Kingdom. It is comprised of over 70 senior government officials responsible for regulatory policy, governance and reform.
Content
The meeting explored how regulatory reforms can support post-pandemic recovery and position regulatory systems to be more agile and responsive to future crises, based on experiences from both Southeast Asian and OECD perspectives. These discussions were supported by recent OECD analysis of the impacts of regulatory responses on the COVID-19 pandemic (OECD 2020) as well as a series of papers and webinars that consider ways regulatory systems can adapt based on lessons learned from the crisis. These also draw on research by the ASEAN Secretariat.
The first webinar explored perspectives on burden reduction with a focus on moving towards “better regulation” that centres on well-designed regulation to promote economic growth while protecting society. Even before COVID-19, governments in Southeast Asia had focused on tackling administrative burden as a means to boost investment, trade and spur growth. However, this has often been from a strict ease of doing business perspective, largely focusing on cutting red tape. The pandemic further highlighted how burdensome regulatory regimes can restrict governments’ response efforts, ultimately requiring many to lift hard gained necessary regulatory requirements to be able to expedite the delivery of critical products and measures.
Session 1 agenda (speaker presentations included in the links)
Opening remarks
Co-chairs:
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Presentation by the Office of Government of Viet Nam on the COVID-19 pandemic
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Presentations by ASEAN Member States
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Question & answer session
Presentations by the OECD Secretariat and Member States
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Question & answer session
Closing remarks:
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The second webinar emphasised the opportunities and challenges posing ASEAN and OECD governments that are increasingly utilising digital technology. Due to the need to limit human contact and the physical transfer of information, governments have more widely implemented digital technology to maintain functions. This poses a number of opportunities and challenges. On the one hand, digital technologies can improve government processes, including reducing regulatory burdens that may hinder the provision of important health, economic and social services. On the other, they pose a challenge for regulators to both quickly adopt these technologies themselves, while also protecting society against unintended consequences.
Session 2 Agenda
Opening remarks
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Presentations on Malaysia’s use of digital technologies to support the COVID-19 response
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Question & answer session
Presentations by ASEAN & OECD member states presentations on digital technologies & regulatory responses to the COVID-19 pandemic
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Question & answer session
Closing remarks
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The third GRPN examined lessons learnt from the COVID-19 crisis and highlighted the challenges and successes of ASEAN and OECD countries from a regulatory perspective. The session focused on how better regulation can support COVID-19 recovery and what solutions exist to help prepare for future crises, such as international regulatory co-operation, promoting resiliency through agile government and reviewing policies made before and during the crisis. The session also highlighted successes and lessons learnt from ASEAN and OECD countries in handling the crisis from a regulatory perspective.
Session 3 agenda
Opening remarks
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Trends in better regulation to support COVID-19 recovery
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Preparing for the future: Country roundtable on supporting recovery and future crisis management with better regulation
Resiliency
Ex post review
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Closing remarks
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Technical note and context
A technical note summarising the discussions will also be produced by the OECD Secretariat in collaboration with the co-chairs and host. This will be supported by a survey to collect current practices on regulation and COVID-19 in ASEAN member states.
The objective of this note is to support peer learning and gather good practices to help Southeast Asia and OECD countries to equip their regulatory systems and understand effective regulatory responses for responding to future crises.
This survey supports broader analytical work conducted by the OECD on gathering evidence of good regulatory practice and governance. This survey and GRPN theme are also part of wider efforts by the OECD Regulatory Policy Division to develop insights into regulatory responses to help countries tackle the COVID-19 crisis. The OECD more generally is compiling data, analysis and recommendations to address the emerging health, economic and societal challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Contact
Mike Pfister and James Drummond, OECD Regulatory Policy Division
Selected OECD resources to support the GRPN | Related pages |
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Documents connexes