MULTAN, 29 JANUARY 2016: The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) held a seminar at the Multan Chamber of Commerce & Industry (BCCI) that also marked the conclusion of the National Road Show on Competition Law.

As part of the National Road Show inaugurated on 4th December 2015 in Islamabad, CCP teams headed by the Chairperson Vadiyya Khalil and Members Shahzad Ansar and Ikram Ul Haque Qureshi visited 22 cities of the four provinces and successfully held seminars at the Chambers of Commerce & Industry and leading Trade Associations to create awareness and familiarisation of the Competition Law. With the support of the business community, important objectives of the Road Show have been achieved, such as the appointment of focal persons by the Chambers of Commerce who will work as a central point of communication and liaison between CCP and the business community.

The participants of these seminars included businessmen ranging from the small and medium enterprises to large and small corporate firms, national companies and multinational corporations. The competition issues highlighted at the seminars have been noted down by CCP for further action where applicable.

The seminar at Multan Chamber was attended by Khwaja Muhammad Yousaf, former President MCCI, CCP Members Shahzad Ansar, Ikram Ul Haque Qureshi, CCP Directors Asfandyar Khattak, Syed Umair Javed, Ikram Ul Haque, senior members of the Executive Committee of MCCI and members of the chamber in large number.

In his welcome address, Khwaja Muhammad Yousaf said the economy needs a competitive business environment that ensures investors’ confidence and conducive conditions for innovation and growth. He termed the role of CCP crucial for protecting consumers’ rights and a competitive economy while urging the businessmen to increase their knowledge of the Competition Law. He assured MCCI’s support to CCP in creating awareness of the law and improving its compliance.

Addressing the participants, CCP Member Shahzad Ansar said that CCP has achieved the objectives of the Road Show on Competition Law and the credit of the success equally goes to the business community. The Road Show will go a long way in creating awareness, improving understanding of the Law and creating a better compliant business environment, he said and added that CCP will continue taking advocacy initiatives with the support of the business community.

The participants of the seminar were briefed the participants on the substantive provisions of the Competition Act, procedures relating to filing of complaints, Merger filings, merger thresholds and other rules and regulations governing CCP. A detailed presentation by Ikram Ul Haque Qureshi, Member CCP, gave an overview of Competition Regime in Pakistan and the substantive provisions of the Competition Act, 2010. He informed the participants that compliance with the Competition Law protects businesses from anti-competitive activities and leads to innovation, lawful profits and business development. He encouraged businessmen to approach CCP for taking advice regarding mergers or any other matter related with the Competition Law.

Shahzad Ansar in his presentation on explained the role of the Office of Fair Trading in dealing with deceptive marketing practices. He shared the contact details of CCP to facilitate businessmen to file complaints with CCP regarding deceptive marketing practices.

In the interactive session, the participants highlighted various competition issues, particularly in the area of deceptive marketing practices and urged the resolution of these issues. CCP officials while noting down the issues vowed to look into them.