PRESS RELEASE 2019-006
14 May 2o19

PCC hosts 3-day study tour to Myanmar Competition Commission officials

The Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) hosted a study tour for its counterparts from the Republic of the Union of Myanmar on May 7-10, allowing the PCC as a young competition authority to share its developments, lessons and challenges to the latest organized competition authority in Southeast Asia.

The Myanmar Competition Commission (MmCC) delegation was led its Chairman Than Myint, along with MmCC Deputy Chairman Than Maung, Commission Members Aye Aye Thein, Aye Aye Win, Myat Myat Kyaw, Myo Swe, Thein Naing Tun, Thida San, Thuta Aung, Aye Han, Minn Minn, and Competition Division Officers Ko Ko Lay, Han Lin Zaw, and Sapae Kyi Maung.

Dr. Myint as Commerce Minister takes the role as MmCC Chairman while the Commission members are composed of officials from the Union Attorney General’s Office, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Transport and Communications, Ministry of Industry, Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry, lawyers, and an economist.

PCC Chairman Arsenio M. Balisacan, Commissioners Johannes R. Bernabe, Amabelle C. Asuncion, and Macario R. De Claro Jr. briefed the MmCC contingent of the Philippine Competition Act, its structure, procedures, learnings, and cases that have shaped the Commission in the last three years. The forum was joined by former Malaysian Competition Commission CEO Shila Dorai Raj and Cambodia-based competition expert David Fruitman who added a regional perspective to the discussions and cited the similarities and differences between the Philippine and Burmese national antitrust laws.

The exercise leverages practical expertise and knowledge both at the individual and institutional levels from both Commissions. It is also part of PCC’s long-term regional cooperation with different international competition authorities, especially from Asia-Pacific.

The activity was organized by PCC, in partnership with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) Philippines led by Frank Tibitanzl and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation represented by Wolfgang Heinze and Biak Hlei Sung.