Melola Discovery

← Melola Discovery

Open access Journal

A Comparative Legal Analysis of Competition Law Protections for MSMEs in ASEAN Member States

International Law Discourse in Southeast Asia · Vol. 5 No. 1 (2026) · pp. 159–178

DOI
10.15294/ildisea.v4i2.36142
ISSN
2829-9655, 2830-0297
Published
2026-07-07
Publisher
Universitas Negeri Semarang
Language
eng
License
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0

Abstract

This research analyzes the adequacy of legal protection for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) against trade monopoly practices within the rapidly evolving digital market landscape of the Industrial Revolution 4.0 era. Although Indonesia’s Law Number 5 of 1999 provides preventive safeguards—such as prohibitions on anti-competitive agreements under Articles 5–8—and repressive mechanisms through administrative and criminal sanctions under Articles 30–37, these provisions remain structurally limited in addressing digital-platform dominance and algorithm-driven market distortions. The normative gap between traditional competition law and contemporary digital market realities necessitates a reassessment of MSME protection. Employing a normative legal research design with a statute approach, conceptual approach, comparative approach, and law-and-policy analysis, this study evaluates whether Indonesia’s current framework sufficiently responds to digital-era challenges. Comparative examination of Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand demonstrates more adaptive regulatory models that integrate digital market oversight into competition law—evident in Malaysia’s Competition Act 2010 and MyDIGITAL Blueprint, Singapore’s enforcement by the Competition and Consumer Commission (CCCS) over dominant online platforms, and Thailand’s Trade Competition Act 2017, aligned with Thailand 4.0. These jurisdictions illustrate a functional convergence toward platform regulation, data transparency, and digital market fairness. This research argues that Indonesia must harmonize its competition policy with digital transformation by adopting platform-specific rules, strengthening algorithmic accountability, and integrating MSME-focused digital market protections. By situating business competition law within the broader digital-economy governance discourse, the study contributes a socio-legal and policy-oriented framework for promoting equitable and sustainable market participation for MSMEs in ASEAN’s digitalized economy.

Keywords

Collaboration network of the authors

40 authors · 108 co-authorship links · 3 across different organisations · showing the 40 most connected

Hover or tap a name to highlight its co-authors. Double-click to open the author's page.

  • State University of Semarang
  • Universitas Halu Oleo
  • Universitas Sumatera Utara
  • Universitas Media Nusantara Citra
  • STKIP Taman Siswa Bima
  • Affiliation unknown
  • Different organisations
  • Same organisation
  • Affiliation unknown
  • Thicker line = more joint articles · bigger circle = more articles
Show as table
Co-authorOrganisationJoint articles
Nurul FibriantiAffiliation unknown11
Ridwan ArifinAffiliation unknown6
Karsinah KarsinahAffiliation unknown6
Sang Ayu Putu RahayuAffiliation unknown5
Irawaty IrawatyUniversitas Halu Oleo5
Denita Cahyanti WahonoAffiliation unknown4
Rr. Jannatul FirdausAffiliation unknown4
Edi KurniawanUniversitas Sumatera Utara3
Widiyanto WidiyantoAffiliation unknown3
Nathanael Bayu Ajie PratomoAffiliation unknown3
Rahayu Fery AnitasariAffiliation unknown3
Shanty OktaviliaAffiliation unknown3
Etty SoesilowatiAffiliation unknown2
Etty Puji LestariAffiliation unknown2
Talitha WidiatningrumAffiliation unknown2
Arief YuliantoUniversitas Media Nusantara Citra2
Ngboawaji Daniel NteAffiliation unknown2
Windiahsari WindiahsariAffiliation unknown2
Siti Hafsyah IdrisAffiliation unknown2
Fauzul AdzimAffiliation unknown2
Eko HandoyoAffiliation unknown2
Kardoyo KardoyoAffiliation unknown2
Moh Yasir AlimiAffiliation unknown2
Wahyudin WahyudinSTKIP Taman Siswa Bima2
Nana Kariada Tri MartutiState University of Semarang2
Subiyanto SubiyantoState University of Semarang1
Nur Azis SalimState University of Semarang1
Setya Budi Arif PrabowoState University of Semarang1
Deyndrawan SutrisnoState University of Semarang1
Andika AnantyoState University of Semarang1
Dewi AnggrianiState University of Semarang1
Alamul Fikri Al FarouqAffiliation unknown1
Margareta RahayuningsihAffiliation unknown1
S MartonoAffiliation unknown1
Herlin PujiartiAffiliation unknown1
Aldias BahatmakaAffiliation unknown1
Markus DiantoroAffiliation unknown1

Affiliations come from OpenAlex; journal OAI-PMH metadata carries none. Authors without an OpenAlex ID are matched by name, which can merge or split people.

Metadata source: OAI-PMH (metadata jurnal) https://journal.unnes.ac.id/journals/ildisea/oai, first harvested 5 Nov 2026, last seen 5 Nov 2026.
Original metadata (oai_dc) 
<oai_dc:dc xmlns="http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:oai_dc="http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc/" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc/  http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc.xsd">
	<dc:title xml:lang="en">A Comparative Legal Analysis of Competition Law Protections for MSMEs in ASEAN Member States</dc:title>
	<dc:creator xml:lang="en">R. Benny Riyanto</dc:creator>
	<dc:creator xml:lang="en">Sucihatiningsih Dian Wisika Prajanti</dc:creator>
	<dc:creator xml:lang="en">Puteri, Dina Silvia</dc:creator>
	<dc:subject xml:lang="en">MSMEs</dc:subject>
	<dc:subject xml:lang="en">Business Competition Law</dc:subject>
	<dc:subject xml:lang="en">Digital Economy</dc:subject>
	<dc:subject xml:lang="en">ASEAN</dc:subject>
	<dc:description xml:lang="en">This research analyzes the adequacy of legal protection for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) against trade monopoly practices within the rapidly evolving digital market landscape of the Industrial Revolution 4.0 era. Although Indonesia’s Law Number 5 of 1999 provides preventive safeguards—such as prohibitions on anti-competitive agreements under Articles 5–8—and repressive mechanisms through administrative and criminal sanctions under Articles 30–37, these provisions remain structurally limited in addressing digital-platform dominance and algorithm-driven market distortions. The normative gap between traditional competition law and contemporary digital market realities necessitates a reassessment of MSME protection. Employing a normative legal research design with a statute approach, conceptual approach, comparative approach, and law-and-policy analysis, this study evaluates whether Indonesia’s current framework sufficiently responds to digital-era challenges. Comparative examination of Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand demonstrates more adaptive regulatory models that integrate digital market oversight into competition law—evident in Malaysia’s Competition Act 2010 and MyDIGITAL Blueprint, Singapore’s enforcement by the Competition and Consumer Commission (CCCS) over dominant online platforms, and Thailand’s Trade Competition Act 2017, aligned with Thailand 4.0. These jurisdictions illustrate a functional convergence toward platform regulation, data transparency, and digital market fairness. This research argues that Indonesia must harmonize its competition policy with digital transformation by adopting platform-specific rules, strengthening algorithmic accountability, and integrating MSME-focused digital market protections. By situating business competition law within the broader digital-economy governance discourse, the study contributes a socio-legal and policy-oriented framework for promoting equitable and sustainable market participation for MSMEs in ASEAN’s digitalized economy.</dc:description>
	<dc:publisher xml:lang="en">Universitas Negeri Semarang</dc:publisher>
	<dc:date>2026-07-07</dc:date>
	<dc:type>info:eu-repo/semantics/article</dc:type>
	<dc:type>info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion</dc:type>
	<dc:format>application/pdf</dc:format>
	<dc:identifier>https://journal.unnes.ac.id/journals/ildisea/article/view/36142</dc:identifier>
	<dc:identifier>10.15294/ildisea.v4i2.36142</dc:identifier>
	<dc:source xml:lang="en">International Law Discourse in Southeast Asia; Vol. 5 No. 1 (2026): January-June 2026; 159-178</dc:source>
	<dc:source>2829-9655</dc:source>
	<dc:source>2830-0297</dc:source>
	<dc:source>10.15294/ildisea.v5i1</dc:source>
	<dc:language>eng</dc:language>
	<dc:relation>https://journal.unnes.ac.id/journals/ildisea/article/view/36142/10631</dc:relation>
	<dc:rights xml:lang="en">Copyright (c) 2026 R. Benny Riyanto, Sucihatiningsih Dian Wisika Prajanti, Dina Silvia Puteri (Author)</dc:rights>
	<dc:rights xml:lang="en">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0</dc:rights>
</oai_dc:dc>