In order to create awareness on laws regulating competition in the economy, a delegation of the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has approached various business schools during a recent visit to Karachi to persuade them to introduce competition laws as an elective subject in their syllabi.
The country’s top consumer watchdog has emphasised in a press statement that an academic course on the subject will create awareness and ignite interest in this field of competition law, which has assumed increasing importance in economic regulation.
The CCP team, headed by Chairperson Rahat Kaunain Hassan, has already achieved some success: the Karachi School for Business and Leadership has agreed, in principle, to hold special sessions on competition law next academic year, a CCP spokesperson told The Express Tribune.
Given the importance of this discipline for the economy, the statement said, the commission has also written to various other universities, including the Punjab University and the Lahore University of Management Sciences, for introducing ‘competition’ as an elective subject in their course offerings.
With support from academia, the commission aims at enabling a competitive environment by achieving more compliance through an understanding of the subject and its issues, read the statement.
“It will seek to create a nexus between the competition regime and the academic circles in the country; providing a sustainable increase in knowledge relating to competition issues,” the chairperson said.
In a seminar organised by the Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the CCP chief told the audience that CCP – since its inception in November, 2007 – has imposed fines on errant companies worth Rs8.5 billion for different violations of competition law. She, however, added that effectiveness of the CPP’s actions shall be more visible upon the disposal of pending cases before the courts.
“Notwithstanding this, we feel that awareness is being created. There are various other indicators which speak of the agency’s effectiveness, and its performance has been internationally acknowledged,” she said; adding that the commission is currently dealing with several cases in the poultry, entertainment, fertiliser, telecom and aviation sectors.
In another advocacy session at the American Business Council of Pakistan (ABC), the chairperson addressed various concerns of ABC members regarding enforcement and application of the Competition Act, the statement said.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 23rd, 2012.
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