Training seminar on Competition Policy and Law concludes

The valedictory of 5 day Seminar on Competition Policy and law organised by CUTS International in the capital was addressed by Jean-Pierre Lehmann, Professor of International Political Economy, IMD, Lausanne.

Congratulating CUTS for pioneering training on issues related to Competition, Mr Lehmann said that the efforts would go a long way in bringing about clarity on the subject and would be instrumental in forming a base for furthering such issues in government and industry.

Addressing the participants who had come from countries across the globe including Singapore, Thailand, Mauritius, Vietnam, Cambodia and representatives of Central Government and many Multinational corporate houses, Mr Lehmann stated that right market and right trade must be accepted as basic human rights. The consumer must have a choice. Therefore the rules should be in place and be respected.

Citing the example of China, Mr Lehmann said that share of China in international trade is on the rise for the last decade. It has emerged as the new and huge kid on the bloc. What is important in such a situation is that there should also be clear understanding of the fair and unfair trade practices in the region. This is extremely urgent and important for the global market to be healthy thus giving the desired results to all players.

Jean-Pierre Lehmann, is the founding director of the Evian Group. He has been Professor of International Political Economy at IMD International Institute for Management Development since 1997. His main areas of expertise are the socio-economic and business dynamics of East Asia, the impact of globalisation on developing countries and the government – business interface, especially in respect to the global trade and investment policy process.

He is the author of several books and numerous articles and papers primarily dealing with modern East Asian history and East Asia and the international political economy and acts in various leading capacities in several public policy forums and organizations.

The five day seminar kick started the activities of CUTS Institute for Regulation and Competition (CIRC) aimed at developing analytical capabilities to comprehend competitive policy and law issues, their perspectives and linkages with the industry and economy.

The resource persons for the Seminar included practitioners, economists and lawyers such as Aditya Bhattacharjea, Francois Souty, John Preston, Jaivir Singh, Manish Agarwal, Pradeep S Mehta, Partha Mukhopadhyay, Shravan Nigam, Shyam Khemani and S Sundar.