CCP plans to introduce competition advocacy in universities

The Competition Advocacy Academia Drive initiated by the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) is under way in full swing with seminars being held in leading universities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad for creating competition law awareness among students and faculties of economics, management sciences and law.
Sources said on Wednesday that the first round of CCP's advocacy campaign will arrange seminars in 11 universities of the twin cities, to be followed by 22 seminars in other cities of the 4 provinces. The CCP officials informed that a 'Module on Economics and Competition Law' developed by CCP has been praised by students and teachers alike and several universities may adopt it as an elective subject.
Officials said that the aim of such interactions with the students and faculty of these universities is to introduce them to the fundamentals of the Competition Act, 2010 and create awareness of the Competition Law.
The Commission started off the first step of the 'Competition Advocacy Academia Drive' on the 21st of November from COMSATS Institute of Science and Technology Islamabad, which was followed by seminars in Riphah International University and Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science & Technology (SZABIST). The upcoming seminars will be held in Iqra University, National University of Science and Technology, Quaid-e-Azam University, National Defense University, International Islamic University, and Bahria University.
The campaign also seeks to introduce to the universities a 16-week Module on "Economics and Competition Law" developed by CCP in Collaboration with the King's College London. Each session was followed by detailed meetings with senior faculty member of the universities on the prospects including the Module and further collaborations between the Commission and the University. The Module is already being taught in one of the leading universities of Pakistan and several other academic institutions have shown interest in introducing it as an elective subject in their curriculum.
In the second phase, the CCP will extend its support to the universities by carrying out an extensive training session for the faculty members of the various universities on the Module.
The Academia Drive will also establish a linkage between the academic institutions and CCP. The CCP is mandated under Section 29 of the Competition Act to create awareness and understanding of the law and take advocacy measures that may lead to create a culture of competition.