18th Meeting of Competition Consultative Group Held
ISLAMABAD,
29 JUNE 2013: The
18th meeting of Competition Consultative Group (CCG), an informal think tank
set up by the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) to solicit feedback and
suggestions on competition related matters from the business community, legal
community, academia, media, regulatory bodies and the government, was held in
Lahore.
The
meeting was chaired by Dr. Joseph Wilson, senior Member CCP, and also attended
by Mueen Batlay, CCP Member, and Ikram ul Haque Qureshi, Director
General/Registrar of the Commission. The participants of the meeting included
representatives of State Bank of Pakistan, Intellectual Property Organization,
Pakistan Engineering Council, Engineering Development Board, Institute of
Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (ICAP), ACCA Pakistan, Lahore Chamber of
Commerce & Industry, United Bank Limited, Saudi Pak Leasing, Linde Pakistan
Limited, ICI Pakistan Limited, JS Private Equity, Earnst and Young, Daud
Hercules Pakistan Limited, and daily The News.
Dr.
Joseph Wilson briefed the participants of the meeting on various initiatives,
actions, and achievements of CCP. He informed that CCP has recently been
awarded fair rating with ‘‘arrow up’’ by the Global Competition Review (GCR), a
London-based leading anti-trust journal, in its latest annual survey of the
world’s leading competition authorities. The rating is stated by GCR itself to
be a performance indicator recognizing that ‘an agency is considered to make
excellent use of its resources and has surpassed its previous accomplishments.’
Dr.
Wilson quoted GCR as stating that CCP keeps moving from strength to strength.
He said that GCR in its survey has lauded the dedication of CCP’s enforcement
staff, termed the orders of CCP as “well reasoned and informed”, appreciated
the leniency decision of CCP, and accredited CCP’s continued success to its
Chairperson, Rahat Kaunain Hassan, “who has worked hard to improve the core
competencies of the authority and guard its precious independence.”
Dr.
Wilson briefed the participants of the meeting on the 3rd International
Conference of CCP held on 29-30 May 2013 in Islamabad. The Conference was
attended by 22 Competition law experts and senior officials of various
competition agencies from America, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, Kenya,
France, Turkey Sri Lanka and Portugal. Local participants of the Conference
included Chief Executive Officers of various multinational and local companies
in Pakistan, representatives of the business associations, Bar Councils,
academia, media and the government.
The
meeting was told that the Conference discussed various key issues in the areas
e.g. public procurement, the linkage between competition and trade and
investment, cartels and the significance of leniency and reward programs, and
competition advocacy. He informed the meeting that a workshop for CCP’s
enforcement staff was held on 30 May at CCP headquarters in which the
international experts shared their knowledge with CCP team.
The
CCG members were also informed that CCP recently trained officials of the
Government of Afghanistan, on Competition Law in a consultative
experience-sharing programme organized by the US Department of Commerce,
through its Commercial Law Development Program, in partnership with the US
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and CCP. Besides, the officials of Officer of
Fair Trade, UK, and Turkish Competition Authority recently visited CCP to train
the enforcement of CCP.
The
participants of the meeting were also briefed on the enforcement orders issued
by the Commission during the last three months. These orders were issued in the
matters of International Clearing House (ICH), Abuse of Dominance by urea
manufacturers, and unaccredited engineering courses offered by universities. Mueen
Batlay, Member, and Ikram ul Haque Qureshi, DG CCP briefed the meeting on the
background of the orders and replied to various questions of the participants.
The
CCG meeting participants lauded the performance of CCP and urged the business
community and the government to extend full support to CCP. They appreciated
the forthcoming approach of CCP and suggested creating a channel of
communication between CCP and the business community that will help bring
competition issues in the knowledge of CCP. The participants also stressed the
need for early disposal of pending cases of CCP in various courts to pass on
the benefits to consumers and the business community.
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