LAHORE: Competition Commission of Pakistan Chairman Khalid Mirza has said that competition law and its effective implementation were a prerequisite for the economic turnaround.
Speaking at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry here on Wednesday he said that consumer and productivity were bound to suffer without contestability, rivalry and economic agents competing on a level- playing field because competition was at the core of the market system.
He said that the Competition Ordinance, 2007 sought to promote competition in all spheres of commercial and economic activity to enhance economic efficiency and protect the consumer from anti-competitive behaviour and made reasonable provision for action against abuse of dominance by a single business undertaking as also collusive behaviour or cartelisation.
He said that all responsible governments relied on competition to deliver a more robust economy and to help drive economic growth. Competition and rivalry based upon quality and price allowed new competitors to enter into the market, increasing innovation and creating jobs.
He said the CCP had moved very decisively against cartelisation in various sectors, collusive tendering, and abuse of dominance, unacceptable concentrations, and deceptive marketing practices. The parties affected included several banks, cement companies, a large refinery, the three stock exchanges, cellular companies, a leading business school, a government sponsored trust, several leading newspapers, a professional association, PIA and two fertiliser companies held by an army trust.
He said that the CCP had examined and granted 110 pre-merger clearances, including one that was taken to the second phase of examination; and further, about 200 potentially competition-reducing agreements had been exempted on grounds of economic merit, with and without conditions, under getaway provisions in the law.
The commission had also instituted an advisory service to assist business undertakings comply with the competition law, including an acquisitions and mergers facilitation office to provide advice with respect to the commission’s merger clearance regime. An office of fair trade (OFT) has been set up to address issues pertaining to deceptive marketing practices.
LCCI senior vice-president Ijaz A Mumtaz thanked the chairman Competition Commission of Pakistan for giving a detailed briefing to the business community on the competition ordinance and said that the awareness has removed certain misgivings the business community had about the commission.
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