Global Competition Review, January 10, 2007
Consumer Unity and Trust Society International, CUTS, the consumer and competition advocacy group is opening in Hanoi, Vietnam.
The new office will be CUTS’s fourth branch outside its home in Jaipur, India. The other offices are in Zambia, Kenya and London. The office’s mission is to promote economic development through trade and competition-based policies.
Secretary General of CUTS International, Pradeep Mehta emphasises that: “Competition law and policy and trade liberalization tread twin paths, and so cannot be divorced from each other.”
CUTS has been working on trade issues since 1991. One of its current projects is ‘Trade Liberalization on Development and Poverty’, underway in 15 countries of Asia and Africa, with support from donor governments in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands
CUTS has worked as a consumer policy and competition law advocate in India since 1984. It has run 30 competition projects in the developing world. Mehta says the philosophy is, “liberalisation, yes, but with safety nets” – where competition and regulation provide the safety net.
Writes Gareth Thomas, DFID’s parliamentary under-secretary of State in the UK: “We applaud the impact that CUTS has had in raising the profile of competition policy issues in developing countries and, indeed, among the donor community. We value the productive working relationship that CUTS and DFID have built up in recent years on this agenda”.
A new competition law came into effect in July 2005 in Vietnam. The country has also gained membership in the World Trade Organisation.
Alice Pham, who will be the new director of the branch in Hanoi, says CUTS expects to play a role “advocating for the independence of the competition authorities” also helping to foster an effective working relationship between the competition agencies and other sectoral regulators.
Although new, the competition law is said to be receiving significant political and public support.
The law provides for two competition agencies – a competition law adminsitration department within the Ministry of Trade, of which the deputy director is Tran Anh Son, and a commission consisting of 11 to 15 members. As of mid-2006 these were “in existence but not yet operational” according to a speaker at a conference organised by CUTS.
CUTS decided to open a full-time office in Vietnam after taking part in capacity building projects in the Greater Mekong Sub-region and in Vietnam, in particular, since 2004. It decided more intensive and effective assistance was required in the region.
To begin with, there will be four people working in the office, including one lawyer and one economist. It envisages a staff of 10 in total, eventually of whom six are professionals.
The staff will also be balanced between Vietnamese and foreigners, preferably from around the region.
The initial budget ceiling for all activities and projects is approximately US$100,000 per year.
The office plans to work with the competition authorities outside Vietnam, as well as other stakeholder groups.
This News item can also be viewed at: http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/