THE Competition Act 2010 and the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Acts 2010 will completely change the way business is conducted in Malaysia if fully implemented as expected by next year as they help pave the way for greater innovation and service to consumers at competitive prices.
The Competition Act 2010 took over 15 years to be implemented in Malaysia due to legacy issues such as industrial policies and protectionism given to selected industries such as the construction and transportation.
The urgency to implement such an Act, albeit later than neighbouring countries such as Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand, finally came when it was clear that foreign direct investments into the country had dwindled as a result of previous industrial policies providing protectionism over selected sectors and giving rise to anti-competitive behaviour.The main thrust of the Competition Act is to promote a competitive market environment and provide a level playing field for all players in the market, which in the process will squash anti-competitive practices such as cartels and collusions.
As government-linked companies (GLCs) are said to make up 40% of domestic economic activity, the private sector was only keen for the Competition Act to be implemented if GLCs also fell under the scrutiny of the Act.
The real push for this Act to take place came in 2007 and the initial plan was to have a Fair Trade Practices Bill encompassing elements of the Competition Law. However, this was further refined two years ago to have a standalone Competition Act after the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry consulted a group of 25 interested parties from the private sector as well as government agencies.
