FE Report
The Bangladesh Competition Commission (BCC) has taken a move to apprise relevant state-run agencies of the Competition Act and commission in order to make the law and entity effective, officials said.
As part of the move, the commission has sought cooperation from the cabinet division to present its overall activities through power-point and view-exchange meetings with all the ministries and other state-run entities.
The cabinet division has already asked all the ministries to extend cooperation to the commission in this connection, an official of the division said.
"We first want to sit with all government officials concerned to apprise them of the Competition Act 2012 and BCC," BCC chairman Md Iqbal Khan Chowdhury told the FE on Saturday.
"Later, we will sit with the country's trade and business bodies including the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) by February next. We will also meet the media regarding the issues," he added.
"Besides, we will go to all divisions to tell them about the commission. People are yet to know about the activities of the BCC. So, we are trying to inform them sincerely," he said.
The BCC is a new organisation. It is now taking shape. The cabinet division has already approved the organogram of the commission. It will be sent to the prime minister for approval. After getting approval, the recruitment process will start, he added.
Some proposed rules of the BCC have already been submitted to the government for approval, he mentioned.
The BCC has applied to the International Competition Network for its membership.
The Competition Act was enacted in 2012 aiming to promote, ensure and sustain congenial atmosphere for the competition in trade, and to prevent, control and eradicate collusion, monopoly and oligopoly, combination or abuse of dominant position or activities adverse to the competition.
Under the act, the government has formed the BCC under the provisions of Section 05. According to Section 7 of the Act, the Commission will consist of one chairperson and four members.
A process started to recruit chairperson and two members in April and August, 2016.
The goal of the Competition Commission is to ensure equality in the market by creating sustainable competition in the economy, ensuring consumer interests and best practice in the market, according to the BCC sources.
"Bangladesh is a developing country. To become a middle-income country by 2021 and developed country by 2041, we need to make a desired growth through increasing investment by reducing unequal competition in trade and business," a source said.
To ensure the availability of products and services of the common people at the competitive prices and to get the maximum utility of the products, it is essential to create a healthy competitive environment in the market, he mentioned.
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