'Competition law implementation mandatory for economic growth'

The Chairman Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP), Khalid Mirza has said that the implementation of competition law in letter and spirit is necessary for the economic growth in the country. He was speaking at a seminar on "Benefits of competition policy towards economic development, prosperity and competitiveness," jointly organised by the CCP and Management Association of Pakistan (MAP) here on Thursday.
He made it clear that CCP is discharging its responsibilities as per the law and would never go for a step that would hurt the business and economic growth. "We believe that country's progress is based on the economic growth," he said and added that the implementation of competition law ensures to provide level playing field for all the market participants in the country.
He also clarified that the CCP never interfered in the working of any regulatory bodies in the country. He said that the CCP's field is only where the matter of competition is concerned. After the establishment of CCP, there is not a single instance against the commission for its interference in the working of any other regulator in the country, he added.
He said that the State Bank of Pakistan, in its report, has given very positive remarks about the performance of CCP, which is an example of commission's relation with other regulators. He said that certain elements are bent upon defaming the Competition Law to safeguard vested interests. He said these elements want to weaken CCP to make the body ineffective.
According to him, the CCP has done a lot against the cartelisation and anti-competitive practices in the country in a very short period of time. He said that cartels are usually strong and more influential. He said the implementation of competition law in letter and sprit is the only way to curb the anti-competitive practices.
He said that these strong cartels want to weaken the regulatory functioning of CCP, however, he hoped that the parliament, who is the custodian of the national interest will act accordingly to safeguard the consumers' interest. Regarding imposition of Rs 6.3 billion fine on the cement cartels, he said that domestically the cement sector criticised the CCP and propagated that the cement industry would crush.
However, he said, on the other hand internationally the commission was criticised for imposing a low fine on these strong cartels. Speaking on this occasion, Timothy Hughes, Council for International Technical Assistance Office of Fair Trade USA said that competition law is very important in Pakistan to support economic growth to alleviate poverty, which in longer run would be helping the global stability and security.
He said that what other countries achieved in longer period Pakistan got comparatively shorter time in respect of competition laws. Russel Damtoft, Associate Director Office of Fair Trade USA and Chishty Mujahid also spoke on this occasion.