ISLAMABAD: The Chairman of the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP), Farid Ahmad Tarar, has said that economic cooperation among the SCO countries should be supported by open, transparent and fair markets, where businesses compete on merit, and consumers benefit from competitive prices, choice, innovation and quality.
He made these remarks while representing Pakistan virtually at the Meeting of the Heads of Antimonopoly Authorities of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Member States held in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.
The meeting brought together heads and senior representatives of competition authorities from Belarus, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The CCP Chairman was accompanied by Director-General Noman Laiq.
“Anti-competitive conduct may extend beyond national borders, making cooperation among competition authorities increasingly important,” Chairman Tarar said, stressing the need for closer regional cooperation in detecting and investigating cross-border cartels, merger control, market intelligence, cartel screening and digital-market competition.
Sharing Pakistan’s experience, the chairman said the CCP had been moving from a predominantly complaint-driven model towards proactive and intelligence-led market surveillance. He briefed the participants on CCP’s enforcement against cartels, abuse of dominance and deceptive marketing, alongside merger control, competition advocacy and market studies.
Highlighting CCP’s role in investment facilitation, Chairman Tarar said that during the last two years, the Commission issued 121 merger clearance orders, facilitating approximately Rs29.65 billion in foreign direct investment, while assessing competition implications.
The CCP also granted 83 exemptions for legitimate business arrangements, meeting the requirements of the Competition Act, 2010.
He said CCP’s Centre of Excellence in Competition Law and Research has undertaken 15 sectoral studies. He also highlighted emerging competition challenges posed by artificial intelligence, big data, algorithms and platform-based business models, saying CCP was strengthening its capabilities in digital competition.
Pakistan supported strengthening the SCO Expert Working Group on combating cross-border cartels and closer coordination in investigating cross-border infringements.
Chairman Tarar also proposed greater cooperation on mergers and acquisitions involving SCO countries, cartel detection, digital markets, capacity building, technical cooperation and joint studies.
In a key outcome, participating authorities supported enhanced cooperation on cross-border cartel enforcement and approved a proposal to prepare a Draft Action Plan of SCO Antimonopoly Authorities for 2027–2028.
Chairman Tarar reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to actively contribute to SCO cooperation for competitive markets, stronger enforcement and sustainable regional economic growth.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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