THE Competition Commission of Brunei Darussalam with the Competition and Consumer Affairs Department, Department of Economic Planning and Development (JPKE) at the Prime Minister’s Office held an engagement session with Legislative Council (LegCo) members yesterday, in an effort to advocate and create awareness on the benefits and key prohibitions of the Competition Order 2015.
The session was chaired by Dato Paduka Eddie bin Dato Paduka Haji Sunny, the Chairman of Competition Commission of Brunei Darussalam. Also present were members of the LegCo, the Competition Commission of Brunei Darussalam as well as senior officers of the Competition and Consumer Affairs Department of the JPKE.
Dato Paduka Eddie spoke on the objectives of the Competition Order 2015 in promoting economic efficiency and consumer welfare through the prohibition of conducts that restrict or restrain fair competition in the market.
He also highlighted the benefits of effective enforcement of competition law in generating sustainable economic growth through increased productivity and innovation, in line with the National Vision 2035. Competition law may also be beneficial to the public by providing incentives to businesses in offering competitive pricing, more choices and improved quality.
Dato Paduka Eddie emphasised that the Competition Order 2015 aims to promote competition among business players through deterring anti-competitive practices. The Order is not intended to burden businesses and potentially result in them exiting markets, as this would affect the competitiveness of the environment in a negative manner.
The Competition Order 2015 briefing was presented by officials from the Competition and Consumer Affairs Department, JPKE. The briefing touched upon the key prohibitions, which are anti-competitive agreements; abuse of dominant position; and anti-competitive mergers, as well as key provisions including exclusions, market study power and investigation power.
The enforcement of the Order will commence in phases beginning with the prohibition on anti-competitive agreements as soon as adequate preparatory works are in place. Prohibitions on abuse of dominant position and anti-competitive merger will come into force at a later stage.
Also shared in the briefing were anti-competitive cases compiled for the region.
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