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Role of Media in Competition Issues. Udai S Mehta CIRC - Malaysia Competition Commission Seminar Kuala Lumpur, June 8-9 2013. TABLE OF CONTENTS. Role of Media and Conditions Precedent Types of Media and Importance of Engagement Print Electronic Social Illustrations/Examples.
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Role of Media in Competition Issues Udai S Mehta CIRC - Malaysia Competition Commission Seminar Kuala Lumpur, June 8-9 2013
TABLE OF CONTENTS Role of Media and Conditions Precedent Types of Media and Importance of Engagement • Print • Electronic • Social Illustrations/Examples
‘Key Stakeholders’ in Competition and Reforms process POLICYMAKERS, COMPETITION AGENCY, CONSUMER PROTECTION AUTHORITY,CIVIL SOCIETY, ACADEMIA, SECTOR REGULATORS, MEDIA, BUSINESS ASSOCIATIONS, LEGAL FRATERNITY, JUDICIARY, ETC.
Media Engagement : Need and Importance • Help in deciding the pace of decision-making Sometimes policy-making can be overtaken by events and developments. Media should be alert to these milestones and report the impact on current policy stage. • Contributing to the content of policy Media should draw on other expertise, to enrich discussions that will expand understanding of the issues and the different ways of addressing these, which could result in revising initial drafts of legislation. • Alerting the public about how policies are implemented Help citizens respond to the issues, so that the debate does not involve only those who in government but all stakeholders who have an interest in the policy question
Media Engagement: Conditions precedent • Availability of trained reporters • Capacity building courses for media • Willing contributors (articles, reports, etc) • Good interaction with institutions (press releases, etc)
Practical Tips for Reporting Policy Issues • Focus on People: Numbers and Data is important but not useful, if the same is not explained • Explain issues regarding the Policy: why certain decisions have been taken by the Govt? • Use illustrations to make your point • Beware of who are your readers • Writing in Plain Language
Practical Tips for Reporting Policy Issues Plain language How can we ensure that the messages are well-understood and get out to a large audience? By using clear, straightforward language.
Example NOT SO PLAIN COMPETITION BUREAU INVESTIGATION LEADS TO FEDERAL COURT ORDER PROHIBITING REAL ESTATE BROKER FROM PURSUING ANTICOMPETITIVE SALES COMMISSION POLICY OTTAWA, February XX, 2003 - The Federal Court of Canada today issued a “Consent Prohibition Order” against the three independently owned Re/Max franchises operating in Canada, prohibiting them from adopting policies which forbid Re/Max brokers and their Sales associates from setting commission rates independently and from advertising those rates.
Example COMPETITION BUREAU SETTLES REAL ESTATE CASE INVOLVING CANADIAN RE/MAX FRANCHISEES OTTAWA, February 17, 2003 - The Competition Bureau announced today that it has settled a price maintenance case involving Re/Max Ontario-Atlantic Canada Inc. (Re/Max Ontario), Re/Max of Western Canada (1998) (Re/Max Western) and Re/Max International Inc. The settlement will enhance competition for real estate brokerage services and benefit Canadian consumers by allowing Re/Max franchisees to advertise commission rates or fees to the public. You can see how much shorter and punchier your writing becomes with plain language.
EVENT REPORTING: PRESS RELEASE TITLE Assessing Benefits of Competition Reforms in Developing Countries - New Challenging Project, Jaipur (India), March 20, 2013 INTRODUCTION “The global financial crisis, which metamorphosed into an economic crisis, has made it necessary now for the international community to understand how competition reforms can lead to growth and innovation, especially given the current environment in which markets have to operate”, said Frederic Jenny, Chairman of the OECD Competition Committee. Dr Jenny was speaking at the Inception Meeting of a three-year project entitled “Competition Reforms in Key Markets for Enhancing Social and Economic Welfare in Developing Countries” (referred to as the CREW project: www.cuts-ccier.org/CREW), being implemented by CUTS International. The project is being supported by the Department for International Development (DFID), UK, and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Germany facilitated by the German Agency for Technical Assistance (GIZ) for undertaking this project.
EVENT REPORTING: PRESS RELEASE BODY Competition reforms mean much more than legal enforcement“ Competition reforms go far beyond the narrow premise of competition law enforcement. In a developing country the effectiveness of competition reforms process would depend on the extent to which it is able to contribute towards the larger developmental gains of the country. Such outcomes--aimed towards welfare of consumers and producers--are far more critical than focussing only on better-performing markets in many of these countries”, asserted Pradeep S Mehta, Secretary General of CUTS. “This has been the underlying principle of all CUTS projects on competition so far. However, this would be our first attempt ever to develop an approach for measuring tangible benefits to both consumers and producers of such reform processes. And by highlighting these benefits, we would be able to further the cause of competition reforms in developing countries”, Mehta added. “Competition policy and law in developing countries should also take into account the ‘equity’ factor, and not just focus on ‘efficiency’ considerations”, echoed Geeta Gouri of the Competition Commission of India, who went on to explain that the Competition Act 2002 of India clearly mentions ‘economic growth’ and ‘consumer welfare’ amongst its most important objectives in its Preamble.
EVENT REPORTING: PRESS RELEASE CONCLUSION This meeting attracted the participation of nearly 50 delegates from many developing countries in Asia and Africa. Experts and practitioners from OECD countries were also present. Representatives of civil society organisations, competition practitioners and scholars, competition authorities and others discussed possible methods and approaches which could be used to assess benefits of competition reforms in some of the key sectors like food, agriculture, manufacturing, etc. Even though the focus of the CREW project is on developing economies in Africa and Asia, the meeting also drew experts from the World Bank, the Australia Productivity Commission, the UK Office of Fair Trading, Overseas Development Institute, UK and the like.
COLUMN WRITINGFinancial Express Editorial : Competition Matters Issue: Arguing from first principles, the only reason why a regulatory authority should be giving a merger or an acquisition a deep, hard look is to ascertain whether it will create or lead to monopoly powers in a market that can be abused. The current tiff in the finalisation of the M&A regulations by the Competition Commission of India and industry, however, is centred on totally different issues. They should, therefore, be much easier to resolve as they do not impact the regulators’ ability to scan the deals for uncompetitive behaviour. The move by the corporate affairs minister MurliDeora to resolve the dispute is thus timely, and in the right direction. Assessment: The trends in the last few years show that M&A activity in India has slowed down substantially, even as it has gained momentum in the rest of developing Asia. While the M&A deals in developing Asia went up from 5,163 in 2007 to 5,896 in 2010, pushing up the deal value from $161 billion to $221 billion, the number of deals in India has come down from 1,237 to 1,047, bringing down the deal values from $45 billion to $36 billion during the period. M&A deals in China, for instance, have gone up from 2,626 to 3,124 in the last four years, taking up the total value from $76 to $135 billion.
COLUMN WRITING……. Assessment: The bone of contention is removing the asset transaction threshold whereby companies will have to report practically on every treasury operation, burdening them with procedural delays and adding to the Commission’s administrative costs without any significant addition to transparency. The other is that of defining local nexus. Companies argue that the Commission should come in the picture only if both parties to a global M&A have an Indian presence. Conclusion: If the Commission argues that these are only red herrings set up by industry to essentially delay the working of the regulator, it stands to reason that the clutter should be cleared fast. It will then give industry less justification to object to sound practice. But the long-winded consultation between the government and industry has already delayed the notification of rules for too long. It is, therefore, time we got the regulations issued fast.
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