High-ranking officials from the Myanmar Ministry of Commerce have taken part in a training course on Competition Policy and Law with the support from the ASEAN Secretariat and the German Government.

Representatives from the Attorney General Office, the University of Yangon and the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry also participated in the ten-day course, which was held in Thailand’s Chiang Mai University in late May.

Participants were provided with knowledge on regional and international competitiveness, as well as exchanged opinions on regulations of the competition law in general and Myanmar’s draft law on competition in particular.

They also learnt how to differentiate roles of the government, judiciary, private sector and civil society in effectively implement the law.

The training served to substantiate the ongoing national consultations about the draft competition law in Myanmar.

As part of their commitment towards the imminent realisation of the ASEAN Economic Community, ASEAN member states pledged to issue a national competition policy by 2015. However, only five of them have a comprehensive competition law in place, with Myanmar one of those currently drafting a legislation.

A similar training course will be organised in Laos in July.-VNA