PM calls for global cooperation of anti-monopoly regulators

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Thursday called for greater global cooperation among anti-monopoly regulators, particularly of the BRICS nations, in view of increasing trade flows among them.

The increasing integration of the world economy in the form of multi-jurisdictional mergers and cross-border anti-competitive conduct makes international cooperation in this arena vitally important for all modern competition authorities," Manmohan Singh said while addressing the 3rd BRICS International Competition Conference organised here by the Competition Commission of India (CCI).

"This takes greater significance in view of the increasing trade flows among BRICS nations that are now on the horizon," he added.

The two-day conference is being attended by competition regulatory authority officials from the five BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) and other parts of the world.

It will discuss various issues including enforcement of competition laws vis-a-vis state owned enterprises, public procurement and creation of competition culture.

The first conference was held in Russia in 2009 and the second in China in 2011.

In his keynote address, Minister of State for Corporate Afairs Sachin Pilot said calibrated regulations protect consumer interests, while there is a complementary relationship between trade and investment policies and competition policies.

He asked the BRICS competition authorities "to embark on an exercise of jointly addressing the common challenges they face in enforcing competition regimes"

CCI Chairman Ashok Chawla said the conference would provide an opportunity for the five BRICS countries to share the challenges faced in their respective countries.

"BRICS Competition Authorities are also ideally positioned to bridge the gap between mature competition authorities and nascent ones," the prime minister said.

An MoU was signed on the first day of the conference between thwe CCI and the Directorate General for Competition of the European Commission for cooperating on competition laws, that provides for increasing the effective enforcement of competition laws in the European Union and India.