KARACHI, 15 JANUARY 2016: The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) today held seminars at the Pakistan Business Council and the American Business Council of Pakistan as part of the National Road Show on Competition Law.

The seminar in PBC was attended by Vadiyya Khalil, Chairperson CCP, Members CCP Mueen Batlay, Shahzad Ansar, Ikram Ul Haque Qureshi, DG CCP Ahmed Qadir, Director Advocacy Asfandyar Khattak, Vice President PBC Atif Aslam Bajwa, CEO PBC Ehsan Malik, and the PBC Board Members in large number.

Vadiyya Khalil while addressing the seminar said that the Competition Act is a business friendly law as it protects businesses from anti-competitive behaviour. “The Competition Law protects the business community from any anticompetitive or deceptive behavior of another entity or competitor. The main objective of the law therefore is to enhance economic efficiency and create a level playing field. It is pro-competition, pro-consumer protection, pro-growth and therefore it is pro-business,” she said.

She asked PBC to appoint a focal person for compliance related matters with CCP and also to work as a focal point on other issues. “We want to facilitate the business community by improving our processes and we would welcome suggestions from all the stakeholders,” she said adding that the end goal of the Competition Law is to create a healthy competitive environment.

Addressing the seminar, PBC CEO Ehsan Malik welcomed the CCP’s advocacy initiative saying that it will create awareness about the Competition Law and also facilitate discussion on competition related matters. PBC Vice President Atif Bajwa appreciated the work being done by CCP and stressed the need for more coordination between the CCP and stakeholders to resolve the issues being faced by the latter.

The seminar at American Business Council was attended by its senior vice president Ahmed Jamal Mir and members of ABC in large number. Ahmed Jamal Mir in his remarks said that the Competition Law was important for protecting the rights of investors, particularly the foreign investors. He appreciated the CCP’s efforts to create awareness of the law.

During these two seminars, the participants of were briefed on the importance of Competition Law enforcement for creating a level playing field for businesses, the salient features of the law, and the benefits drawn by the consumers after getting protected from anti-competitive practices.

Ikram Ul Haque Qureshi, Member CCP, in his presentation explained the substantive provisions of the Competition Act, 2010 and briefed the participants on specific areas such as the procedures of inquiries, issuing orders, and filing complaints with CCP. He said that in the era of free trade, healthy competition is the only recipe for progress, innovation and business growth.

Shahzad Ansar, Member CCP in his presentation on the role of the Office of Fair Trade said that deceptive marketing practices distort competition in the market and also harm the consumers’ interests besides causing financial losses to the competing businesses.

Mueen Batlay, Member CCP explained the process of merger filing with CCP and merger thresholds and informed the participants that in case of the phase 1 merger, CCP processes a merger application within 30 days after the completion of the application.

DG International Affairs CCP, Ahmed Qadir briefed the participants on the concept of Competition as evolved internationally and informed that over 120 countries of the world have adopted competition laws.

In the interactive sessions, the participants actively took part in the discussions and appreciated CCP’s initiative of approaching the business community for advocacy.