Launch Meeting: 7-Up Project

PHASE-I CULMINATION MEETING

7-8 September 2001, Goa, India

National Reference Group Meeting

2nd NRG Meeting

1st NRG Meeting

LAUNCH MEETING

7 Up Project, December 20-21, Jaipur, India

Symposium on Competition Policy and Pro-poor Development, 19 February 03, Geneva

 Launch Meeting

7-Up Project

Event

Objective

Proceedings

Organised by

Contact Details

Objective

The meeting provided a common platform for various experts and representatives of partner countries and different organisations and institutions to meet and benefit from each other’s experiences. The main objectives of the meeting were to:

• Orient and familiarize all partners about the whole project and with each other; 
• Take stock of the country papers sent in by the partners; 
• To establish the detailed methodology of the field study and plan for the same; and 

·         Adopt a plan of action for the project and settle terms of reference with the partners.

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Proceedings 

The meeting was attended by various competition experts, competition practitioners, former and present executives of various international organisations such as UNCTAD, WTO, World Bank, and competition authorities of different countries including Australia, Brazil, South Africa, Zambia, India, etc in addition to the project partners. The meeting was designed as a seminar on the first day and as a workshop on the second day. It was segmented into eight sessions and was organised as follows –  

Sessions 1  2 3  4 5 6 7  8  

There were five sessions on the first day of the meeting. The Opening Session of the meeting started with a welcome address by Mr. Pradeep S Mehta, Secretary General, CUTS, India. He also introduced the project to all the participants and highlighted the objectives of the project as well as that of the meeting. The other experts who addressed the participants during the session were:  

Prof. Frederic Jenny, Vice President, Conseil de la concurrence, France spoke about the relation between competition law and competition policy;  

Mr. Allan Asher, Director Global Campaigns, Consumers’ International, UK emphasised the importance of an effective competition law in today’s world;  

Mr. Peter Holmes, University of Sussex, UK spoke on how to get optimum benefits from the meeting, especially for the researchers;  

Mr. K. C. Ganjwal, Secretary, MRTP Commission, India talked about the significance of the project in this changing scenario.  

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The First Session was titled “What’s happening on the International Scene” and was chaired by Prof. Frederic Jenny. In this session, Mr. Robert Anderson, Counsellor, Intellectual Property and Investment Division, WTO threw light on the ‘State of Play on Competition Policy in the WTO’ and Mr. Rajan Dhanjee, UNCTAD, highlighted the Outcomes of the UNCTAD’s Fourth Review Conference on the UN Set of Principles and Rules on Competition.  

 The Second Session was “What’s happening in the developed world” Mr. R. Shyam Khemani, Director, Law and Economic Consulting Group (LECG), UK spoke about ‘Dealing with cross-border competition concerns’ and Mr. Bernard ‘Joe’ Phillips, Head of Division, Competition & Consumer Policy, OECD highlighted ‘Fight Against International Cartels’. The session was chaired by Mr. Peter Holmes.  

The Third Session was about “Developing Country Experiences” and was chaired by Mr. Allan Asher. In this session Mr. George Lipimile, Executive Director, Zambian Competition Commission spoke about the ‘Experience of a Least Developed Country: Zambia’. Mr. Gesner Oliveira, Ex. Chairman, Competition Bureau, Brazil highlighted the Institutional Challenges for Implementing Competition Policy in Brazil. ‘Experiences from India’ were talked about by Mr. G. R. Bhatia, Additional Director General (I & R), MRTP Commission, India.  

The Fourth Session  was titled “Why new competition laws?” Mr. Sothi Rachagan, CI – ROAP, Malaysia chaired this session. Here, Mr. Phil Evans, Consumer Association, UK spoke about ‘The UK experience’. ‘The South African Story’ was presented by Mr. Shan Ramburuth, Competition Tribunal, South Africa and Mr. Pradeep S Mehta talked about ‘What’s Happening in India’ where he highlighted the proposed competition law in India and its likely implications  

“Cross-sectoral Issues” was the title given to Fifth Session  of the meeting. Mr. Cezley Sampson, Lead Advisor, Privatisation and Regulation, Presidential Parastatal Sector Reform Commission, Tanzania highlighted ‘Role of Competition Authority and Utility Industry Regulators in a Liberalised Market Environment’. The other speaker of this session was Mr. Luis Tineo, The World Bank, Washington. The session was chaired by Mr. R. Shyam Khemani.  

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On the second day of the meeting, that is, December 21, 2000, there were three sessions, of which Session Six was “Country Presentations”. It was divided into two parts. In this session, the project countries were required to present their country papers and highlight important issues. In the first part of this session, Mr. Sajid Kazmi, Sustainable Development Policy Institute, Pakistan, Ms. Thushari de Zoysa, Institute of Policy Studies, Sri Lanka, Mr. Moses Tekere, Trade & Development Studies Centre, Harare, Zimbabwe and Mr. Manish AgarwaL, Delhi School of Economics, New Delhi, represented their respective countries.  

The response panel for this session constituted of Prof. Frederic Jenny, as the chairperson and Mr. Gesner Oliveira, Mr. Bernard Phillips and Mr. Phil Evans as the other members of the panel  

In the second part of this session, presentations were made by Mr. David Ongolo, Spellman & Walker Co. Ltd, Kenya, Mr. Simon Roberts, University of Witwatersrand, South Africa, Mr. Cezley Sampson, Tanzania and Mr. Muyunda Illilonga, Zambia Consumers Association, Zambia. The response panel constituted of Mr. R. Shyam Khemani, as the chairperson and Mr. Peter Holmes, Mr. Allan Asher and Mr. Robert Anderson as the other members of the panel.  

In the Seventh Session, three working groups were made to discuss the methodology of field surveys, etc and frame questionnaires. Each group was given specific topics to discuss and was required to give the highlights of the discussions in the meeting. The final outcomes of the working groups were presented in a joint session.  

The Eighth Session  was the last session of the launch meeting and was chaired by Mr. Pradeep S Mehta. In this session, the strategies for the implementation of the project and methodology for research were discussed. At the end of this session vote of thanks was given and it was hoped that the project would be successful in achieving its goals. 

The meeting proved to be a great success and of immense benefit to the participants, especially the project partners. The sharing of experiences of the developed as well as the developing world would definitely help the researchers in deciding the methodology of their research. The meeting helped in getting a clear picture of what needs to be done in the context of taking the project forward and the way ahead was enlightened. The expected outcomes from the project were highlighted and strategies for the implementation of the project were discussed. This meeting marked the real beginning of the first phase of the project. 

Contact Details
For more details please feel free to contact: 
Mr. Srinivas Krishnaswamy/Ms. Anjali Bansal

CONTACT US

CUTS Centre For International Trade, 

Economics & Environment (CITEE)

D–217,  Bhaskar Marg,  Bani  Park, 

Jaipur  302 016,  India,

Ph: 91.141.2282821

Fax: 91.141.2282485  

Email: cuts@cuts.org