ISLAMABAD, Nov 20: Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) Chairman Khalid Mirza said here on Thursday that the country had to take action against all types of cartels if it wanted to implement new plans for the revival of investors’ confidence and the economy.

Talking to journalists at a reception, Khalid Mirza said that those who claimed that actions taken by the CCP to control cartels in various sectors had negatively impacted investors’ confidence were wrong.

Had the actions against cartels been harmful, the US and Europe would have never progressed, he said, adding in Europe cartels were being fined in billions of Euros, while in the US punishment for cartels was as high as 12 years imprisonment.

He said in Pakistan cartels of different sorts were not only fleecing consumers but also harming economy by not allowing new businesses to flourish and were rather eating away opportunities available for smaller players.

He emphasised that now it was time to discourage such anti- competition forces.

He said if the country wanted to be a better regulated, and if we want to win the hearts of genuine investors and provide a level-playing field across the board, we should strengthen those institutions which are working against cartels.

In response to a question regarding the weak financial health of the CCP, he said that the commission had come into existence after long years of hard work and it needed to be strengthened, both financially and from human resource point of view.

He said that the commission was blessed with an efficient team of members at present, but now it needed to stand on its own feet financially and to be independent.

Internationally, he said, competition commissions had their own sources of funding which came directly through payments of certain percentages of fee to the commission charged by the regulators of different sectors.

In Pakistan, their equals are organisations, like Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority, State Bank of Pakistan and Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan, etc.

Mr Mirza said the CCP had not conducted raids on cement factories, but had inspected offices of the cement manufacturers association.

The association at first had not allowed a few of the staff of CPP, who had gone there without taking with them any law enforcement agencies or even security guards. He said when the CCP staff was allowed to inspect the office, till then the association had removed most of their records.

But, still the CCP officials had gathered a lot of information from the remaining less important documents.

In response to a question, he said the commission was also examining recent reports of increase in Haj fares.

He said only two international airlines had been allowed to take Hajis to Saudi Arabia and there were reports that they were over-charging.

When asked about hurdles faced by the CCP in taking action against cartel-like behaviour of various organisations and industries due to stay orders, he said that the CCP respects and would always bow to country’s judicial system.