Competition agency cannot ensure competitive market, say enterprises

Competition agency cannot ensure competitive market, say enterprises

The Competition Administration Department (CAD) has been put under the management of the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT), which has many large state-owned enterprises.

“How can we create a competitive market if the competition administration agency is put under a ministry?” asked Vu Tien Loc, chair of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI).

Loc said the competition administration agency must act as an independent body.

“An agency fighting for healthy competition among businesses should not belong to a governing body which has many large enterprises which enjoy a monopoly in their fields,” he noted.

The expert said that though Vietnam has had great success in reforming administration, tax and customs procedures, it still needs to speed up institutional reform.

“The government needs to act as the founder, while businesses should be the key force in building national competitiveness,” he said.

A lawyer who attended a recent workshop on upgrading Vietnam’s competitiveness said that decisions made by a competition administration agency under a ministry which has many exclusive businesses would not be unbiased.

“It is an impossible mission for any minister who has to both optimize profits for the businesses put under his ministry’s management and ensure healthy and fair competition for all businesses in the national economy,” he noted.

“The competition administration agency must be an independent body not governed by any ministry of the government,” he said.

Le Dang Doanh, a renowned economist, also said that if Vietnam wants to set up a competitive market and apply policies to encourage healthy competition, it has to have an independent unit in charge of ensuring fair competition for all businesses.

Doanh pointed out that it is unreasonable to put the Electricity of Vietnam (EVN), which enjoys a monopoly as the only electricity wholesale buyer and the only retailer, under the management of MOIT.

Vietnam is striving to build a competitive power market. However, the head of the power supply unit is under the command of a deputy minister who was the head of the power company.

Truong Dinh Tuyen, who was the Minister of Trade, also emphad the necessity to set up an independent body to be in charge of competition administration.

Tuyen said he was aware of the problems of the competition administration agency put under the then Ministry of Trade (now MOIT). However, Tuyen said he could not relocate the agency out of the ministry because of the government’s policy to streamline state agencies and ministries.

vietnamnet