MPs attend workshop on promoting competition in Guyana

Feb 28, 2017 News

To provide Members of Parliament (MPs) with a sound understanding of issues related to

Chairperson of the CARICOM Competition Commission, Dr. Kusha Haraksingh.

promoting competition in Guyana and in the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME), a workshop was held at the Public Buildings, yesterday.
The workshop is an output of the Caribbean Forum-European Union (CARIFORUM-EU) Capacity Building Project that is funded under the 10th European Development Fund (EDF).
The project’s overall objective is to support CARIFORUM Member States’ beneficial integration in the world economy.
Specifically, it seeks to help Member States to implement their Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA) commitments in the areas of Competition, Procurement and Customs and Trade Facilitation.
Prime Minister, Moses Nagamootoo, and other senior ministers of government participated in the workshop.
Dr. Kusha Haraksingh, Chairperson of the CARICOM Competition Commission and Honorary Consultant in the Office of the Vice Chancellor the University of the West Indies (UWI) was the presenter.
Dr. Haraksingh first elucidated key concepts necessary for understanding essential aspects of competition to the participants.
He explained that the main goal of competition is to improve consumer welfare. In pursuing this objective, however, he suggested that Caribbean territories may need to develop a new jurisprudence of competition that differed from what is practiced in North America or the European Union, which would be able to address competition issues specific to CARICOM territories.
Among the other concepts that Dr. Haraksingh discussed, were the issues of unilateral action in which the actions of a single dominant firm in the market might constitute an abuse of its position; horizontal action in which two or more firms collude in a manner that inhibits market competition; the anti-competitive potential of mergers and acquisitions; and finally, procedures to address anti-competitive situations.
Dr. Haraksingh’s presentation particularly focused on the role of parliamentarians in enhancing competition in Guyana. He emphasized the need for a balance between the application of competition law and other considerations such as industrial policy to assist disadvantaged regions or groups and the need to make particular sectors more competitive.
Dr. Haraksingh also noted the need for balance between the power of Guyana’s competition commission and sectoral regulators and for state-owned and private enterprises to be afforded the same competitive advantages.
In closing, Dr. Haraksingh highlighted the need for members of parliament to be able to scrutinize trade agreements and general domestic legislation for anti-competitive issues.

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