Industry and Trade Minister Dr Abdallah Kigoda has called for a well functioning competition policy to curb anti-competitive practices in the East African Community region.
The Minister for Trade and Industries, Dr Abdallah Kigoda
Dr Kigoda made the call in Dar es Salaam yesterday when opening the National Inception Meeting on the Accelerating Implementation of EAC Competition Policy and Law project.
The Meeting was organized by Research and Poverty Alleviation (REPOA) in collaboration with CUTS International to assess the challenges in the implementation of the project.
“It is difficult for a single country to deal with the competition policy and therefore it is vital to go for a well functioning competition policy that will help curb anti-competition practices by not only domestic firms but also regional and large multinational corporation (MNGs) and international cartels,” he said.
Commenting on the launched project, Dr Kigoda said that the project lead to development and poverty reduction by opening market for competition to promotion of domestic market liberalization and increase trade.
The project also seeks to increase inward investment, efficiency in making economic decisions and innovation and maximization of consumer surplus. It will also help create jobs.
The Executive Director of REPOA Prof Samuel Wangwe said the implementation of the project would help promote and develop mutual trust through some common understanding of competition issues.
“Despite that, the project seeks to facilitate resolution of trade conflicts among EA Countries,” he said and adding that capacity constraints and limited awareness of the stakeholders on the importance of the policy and laws are the main challenges engulfing Tanzania and other EAC partner states.
He said the project would help develop the capacity of national stakeholders including policy makers, regulators, civil society organizations mostly consumer groups, academics and the media to understand competition concerns from national and regional perspectives.
By ANNE ROBI, Tanzania Daily News
