1. Important stakeholders for
promoting competition and
consumer protection
reforms
Ahmed Qadir, Office of InternationalAffairs
Competition Commission of Pakistan
Competition
and
Consumer
Protection
Consultations
10-14 August
2015, Istanbul

2. Competition
Agency
 The institution, established by the competition law,
tasked with enforcement
 The decisive factor in establishment of competition culture
 Expected roles
 Effective enforcement of competition law;
 communication with consumers/other stakeholders
 Activities aimed at promoting competition culture and
awareness
 undertake competition advocacy
 Essentials for success
 Subject knowledge and skills,
 human and financial resources
 functional autonomy
 Good interface with complementary institutions

3. ‘Key
stakeholders’
for
competition
and consumer
protection
reforms
POLICYMAKERS,
CONSUMER PROTECTION AUTHORITY
CIVIL SOCIETY,
ACADEMIA,
SECTOR REGULATORS,
MEDIA
BUSINESS ASSOCIATIONS,
LEGAL FRATERNITY, JUDICIARY, ETC.

4. Policymakers
Policies generally made at cabinet level and
endorsed by parliament
 Policy makers- government officials (ministers)
who make policies together with the MPs
Expected Roles
 Lay out conducive policy and legal frameworks
 Release resources for functioning of institutions
 Monitoring and accountability
Essentials for success
 Appreciation of benefits from competition and
consumer protection reforms
 Capacity to implement policies

5. Getting the
government
and
politicians
involved
Why government?
They make important decisions so
necessary to ensure that CA’s views are
duly considered
CA has a very important role to counter
“vested interests” lobbying for their
benefits
Why politicians?
They make important decisions about CA
resources

6. Engaging
with
government
bodies
A CA must be able to show that
competition provides significant
benefits through greater choice, lower
prices, better quality of goods and
services.
Competition provides the incentive for
firms to be more efficient and
innovative (raise productivity across the
economy)

7. Engaging
with
government
bodies
CA must be able to show it is not a
threat…
…it is on the same side…
…that’s its advice is based on sound
analysis, clearly presented, with the
focus on the consumer
Diplomacy, inter-personal skills, EQ, and
persuasion help immensely

9. What’s the
message to
government
bodies?
Some competitive effects to consider…
 Does the (proposed) intervention affect the
possibility of entry and exit in a market? e.g.,
granting exclusive rights to supply, limiting the
number of suppliers, or significantly raising the
costs for new firms entering the market
 Does it affect the nature of competition between
firms, either through direct restrictions or by
reducing the incentives to compete?
 Does it affect consumers? Can they exercise
choice?

10. Monitoring
developments
in
government
policies
The Government Gazette
Media
Consumers
Contacts in government bodies

11. Engaging
with
Parliament
Parliamentary committees need to be
treated with utmost care. Do not
appear superior or condescending!
Not all committee members will share
your views
Don’t make promises that are difficult
to keep
Don’t make any statement people will
remember forever!

12. Consumer
Protection
Authority
Institution with legal backing for consumer welfare
interest
Expected Roles
 Effective enforcement of consumer law;
 Establish linkages with other consumer movements
 Promotion general awareness about consumer issues
 Advocacy with relevant Ministries
Essentials for success
 Subject knowledge and skills,
 human and financial resources
 functional autonomy
 Good interface with complementary institutions

13. CivilSociety-
Consumer
Organisations
 Refers to voluntary social organisations and institutions
that advocate for rights of consumers
 Expected Roles
 Watchdogs (eyes and ears) for competition and consumer
authorities
 Awareness generation on competition and consumer issues
 Mobilising consumers voice on need for protection
 Advocacy and pressure on competition and consumer
protection reforms
 Essentials for success
 understanding on competition and consumer issues;
 Structures and capacity for interaction with various
stakeholders
 Support from development partners
 Recognition by the relevant authorities

14. Academia
University and other research institutions
Expected Roles
Policy research on competition and consumer
policy issues
Training courses on competition and
consumer issues for human resource
improvement
Capacity building programmes for officials
Essentials for success
Acceptance of competition and consumer
issues into the curriculum
Knowledge of competition and consumer
issues by researchers

15. Sector
regulators
Regulatory authorities established by other
sector specific legislation
Expected Roles
 Tell their respective sectors what to do
 Work with CA to promote competition in their
respective sectors
 Make decisions that have a bearing on competition
 Protect consumer interests in their sectors
Conditions Precedent
 Resources to carry the tasks
 Good legal framework
 Good interface with competition and consumer
authority

16. Sector
regulators
There could, eventually, be quite a few
of these in existence.
The important ones: banking &
securities, telecom, energy, services
such as hospitals and waste
management.
What works well are regular meetings
for liaison purposes and memoranda of
agreement.

17. Business
Regulated entity hence has big role to play
Expected Roles
 Competing fairly and avoid consumer violations
 Being sources of information for competition and
consumer authority
 Business associations promoting understanding on
competition among members (firms)
 Associations are not conduits for anti-competitive
behaviour
Conditions precedent
 No regulatory capture
 Competitive neutrality
 Acceptance of competition reforms by (big)
businesses

18. Media
All avenues of communication with general public
(print, electronic, social etc.)
Expected Roles
 Promote greater public awareness of issues
 Awareness on institutions and legal framework
 Hint on possible anticompetitive areas and consumer
violations
 Constructive criticism
Conditions precedent
 Availability of trained reporters
 Capacity building courses for media
 Willing contributors (articles, reports, etc.)
 Good interaction with institutions (press releases etc.)

19. Legal
Fraternity
Legal practitioners (for business and competition
agency) also carry a heavy burden
Expected Roles
 educate clients on compliance mechanisms
 Help judiciary establish case laws
 Ensure careful enforcement of laws by guarding
against carelessness
 Help identify loopholes in the administration system
Conditions precedent
 proper understanding of the provisions of the law, and
its overall goal
 Training programmes for the lawyers
 Quick justice delivery system

20. Judiciary
The buck stops at the judiciary, hence
determines efficiency of system
Speed of judicial review, however, is a
matter of concern in many countries
Expected roles
Efficient disposal of related trials/cases
Establish case laws
Essentials for success
knowledge on the subjects
Conducive platform for presiding cases (e.g.
different from common criminal cases)

21. Conclusions
– what the
CA can do
Stakeholders need to understand and adequately
perform their specific roles.
Stakeholder needs training.
Programmes on awareness of competition and
consumer issues and their benefits critical for
success.
Stakeholders need to complement each other
rather than step on each other’s toes.
Resource constraints major challenge; hence
development partners are necessary.
Advocacy key to buy-in; important to establish a
cadre of advocates through training programmes

22. Confidence,
credibility,
resources
The more the CA inspires the
confidence of Ministers, MPs,
government bodies, parliamentary
committees, etc., the more credibility it
creates.
Credibility can be leveraged for more
resources to carry on with its important
work.

23. Final
Thoughts
An authority will ultimately be judged
on its perceived VALUE to the
economy
Important to demonstrate this value
quickly
 keeping focused on the ’main game’, i.e., key
priority issues and avoiding easy but low[er]
priority issues is essential.
 Communicating about what one does is also
important  helps get support

24. Thank you very
much