The Impacts of Public Interest Consideration on the Application of Competition Law: The Case Study of Vietnam’s Competition Authority

This article examines how public interest considerations shape the design and enforcement of competition law, using Vietnam’s National Competition Commission (NCC) as a case study. Public interest – balancing consumer welfare with state-driven economic goals – informs national competition policies. It enables competition authorities to pursue their objectives, yet it creates tensions in practice. The NCC’s effectiveness in Vietnam is undermined by its subordination to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), which oversees dominant state-owned enterprises (SOEs). This legal status fosters conflicts with sectoral regulators, influence from interest groups, and inconsistent enforcement, compromising the NCC’s ability to address anti-competitive practices impartially. Drawing on global examples (e.g., Australia, South Africa) and Vietnam’s Law on Competition (LoC) 2018, the study reveals a dilemma: the NCC struggles to reconcile public interest goals like SOE support with competition aims like market fairness. The article argues that the NCC’s lack of independence – rooted in its MoIT ties – drives inefficiency and bias, necessitating reform. It proposes statutory changes to grant the NCC autonomy, ensuring its power and objectivity in enforcing competition law. These findings offer lessons for transitional economies navigating similar public interest-competition trade-offs.