With NERA Economic Consulting, Gilbert + Tobin will consult in the work for which its Hong Kong affiliate, Arculli & Associates, has been commissioned. The study will assess the competitive environment of auto-fuel retailing and the potential for anti-competitive conduct. As well, as part of the report outcomes expected in early 2006, it will recommend options to enhance competition in the future.

“This project is a demonstration of how Australian legal expertise can besuccessfully exported by exploiting specialised practice areas. This is our second petrol market review in Asia following an earlier project in Sri Lanka,” said Gilbert + Tobin partner Peter Walters, who is based in Hong Kong with Arculli & Associates.

The Gilbert + Tobin telecommunications practice has a client base including Bahrain, Oman, Samoa and New Zealand, as well as Singapore, Japan and Hong Kong. The firm is now “expanding its international practice in telco to include competition law and other sector-specific regulation”.

“We can outdo the UK and US firms by continuing to build our world class expertise in carefully selected areas of specialisation,” said Walters.