In an effort to advocate and create awareness on the benefits and key prohibitions of the Competition Order 2015, the Competition and Consumer Affairs Department in the Department of Economic Planning and Development (JPKE), Prime Minister’s Office had a dialogue session in collaboration with the Darussalam Enterprise (DARe).
The session was attended by members of the Brunei Malay Chambers and Industry, members of the media as well officials from DARe and JPKE.
In the opening remarks, Heidi Farah Sia Rahman, Acting Director of the Competition and Consumer Affairs Department in JPKE spoke on the importance of competition law in promoting a fair and healthy market place, which is a cornerstone towards economic development and in achieving Wawasan 2035. The Competition Order 2015 prohibits businesses in engaging in agreements, which may lead to harmful effect to consumers such as fixing pricing and limiting supply. In this context, business and the Government are also consumers.
The session is aimed at creating awareness on the dos and don’ts for businesses and promoting a fair business environment. The law calls for business to set their price independently without coordination or any agreements among competitors. Some business practices which are customary and seems harmless such as associations facilitating exchange of price or sensitive market information, are actually prohibited by the Order as it may lead to price increase at the expense of consumers. Hence, awareness on the key prohibitions of the law is important to change business practices to comply with the Competition Order 2015.
The audience were also briefed in detail by a senior officer from the Competition and Consumer Affairs Department in JPKE on the three key prohibitions under the Competition Order 2015, which are (i) Anticompetitive Agreement; (ii) Abuse of Dominant Position; and (iii) Anticompetitive merger with case examples from the region.
The enforcement of these prohibitions will commence in phases beginning with the prohibition on AntiCompetitive Agreements as soon as adequate preparatory works such as advocacy and capacity building has been in place. Also briefed were the key provisions of the Order, such as exclusions, enforcement authorities, application, powers to do investigations and penalty.
The briefing was followed by an interactive dialogue with the members of the Chamber and media, where several questions such as enforcement timeline, issues on bid riggings, and application of the law. The session was concluded by a call of support from the media as well chamber of commerce in promoting creating a fair and healthy competition culture in Brunei
The session was conducted in Auditorium Workshop, D&T Building, Anggerek Desa, on 28 March 2018.