Boosting economy through competition, standards and liberalisation

Compete or be prepared to be irrelevant. Among the six SRIs, the plan on competition, standards and liberalisation leads Malaysia's bid in becoming a competitive global player.

"Competition, standards and liberalisation were one of the first things that we introduced inside the discussion groups for the SRIs," says Idris Jala, CEO of PEMANDU and minister in the prime minister's department.

Formerly known as international standards and liberalisation, this SRI has been renamed as competition, standards and liberalisation to better reflect competition as its major component.

The SRI has three major areas: the swift implementation of the Competition Act 2010, adoption of international standards and best practices, and liberalisation of the services sector. From plan to practice, the first half of the year saw the smooth implementation of these initiatives.

Competition Act 2010

The Competition Act seeks to prevent anticompetitive agreements such as price fixing, market sharing, bid rigging and limiting or controlling production. It also deters abuse of a dominant position or monopoly such as unfair and predatory pricing, bundling and refusal to deal. After the act took effect in January this year, the government followed up with the necessary structures to implement it.