Bismillahirrahmanirrahim
Assalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh
Ybrs. Dr. Alauddin Sidal,
Deputy Secretary-General (Domestic Trade)
Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs
Ybhg. Dato’ Iskandar Halim Hj Sulaiman,
Commissioner of the Malaysia Competition Commission (MyCC)
Ybrs. Noor Azmi Mat Said
Chief Executive Officer of SME Corporation
Ybrs. Dr Zainul Fuad Md Wahi
Acting Chief Executive Officer of Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,
- First of all, I am highly privileged to greet you this morning and bid you a warm welcome to this very significant Public Consultation for the Market Review on Service Sector (Wholesale and Retail Trade) by the Malaysia Competition Commission.
- I would also like to thank MyCC officers for their relentless efforts in ensuring the success of this event. I believe today’s programme will be proven advantageous and beneficial to the development of competition law in Malaysia. For this reason, we at MyCC are very much welcome all kind of participations and feedback from all of you to assist us in finalising the market review report on service sector.
- Not only that, your active participation and feedback in this programme will help us to measure the level of public awareness and comprehension on competition law while simultaneously help us to improve the quality of our advocacy programmes.
Ladies and gentlemen,
- The Commission started its humble beginnings in mid-2011 and I am proud to say that we have faced and overcome many challenges along the way. I am pleased to report that the Commission has begun to further impress upon businesses, and society at large, the importance of complying with the Competition Act 2010.
- The Commission has also tirelessly focused its energy in implementing and promoting the Act through its activities, decisions and engagements with stakeholders, while growing in size and responsibilities. The Commission also has placed importance in delivering its roles in order to cultivate an environment of competitiveness in the local business landscape.
- Section 11(1) of the Competition Act 2010 allows the Commission on its own initiative or upon the request of the Minister to conduct a review on any market in order to determine whether any feature or combination of features of the market prevents, restricts or distorts competition in the market.
- As stated in the Act, the main objective of this market review is to identify whether or not there are any elements of that restrict or distort the competition in the market.
- The main objectives of the Market Review are to identify the market structure, supply chain and competition level of service sector in Malaysia focusing on wholesale and retail (WRT) trade. This market review is expected to provide indication on the competition level of the WRT, whether there is any legislation or policy that impedes competition and how the Commission can assist in promoting competition in the WRT, especially in these 4 subsectors studied:
- Processed foods and beverages
- Personal cares and toiletries
- Household cleaning products, and
- Clothing.
- Insyallah, with your feedback, we could finalise the market review report on service sector probably somewhere around July this year.
- To date, the Commission has produced 5 market reviews in five (5) different sectors namely:
- Domestic Broiler Market,
- Fees by Professional Bodies,
- Pharmaceuticals,
- Building Materials in the Construction Industry and
- Food Sector for five (5) selected foods.
- Looking forward, the Commission is committed to further explore in the area of transportation sector.
Ladies and gentlemen,
- In 2019, the Commission has decided to conduct a market review on Malaysia’s service sector, particularly in wholesale and retail trade. Based on report from the Department of Statistics (DOSM), Malaysia’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2018 for service sector contributed 56.7% to the growth and increasing at a growth rate of 5.7% between 2017 and 2018 when compared to the overall national GDP at 4.4%.
- The highest contribution within the service sector came from wholesale and retail trade (WRT) industry, contributing 29.4% in 2018. WRT in this sense referring to the intermediate steps in the distribution of goods between manufacturers and end consumers.
- Given the importance of the service sector to the economic growth and development of the nation, the Commission is committed to pursuing the policies that create conducive competitive environment to ensure the viability and sustainability of the service industry.
- Competition law and policy is primarily concerned with providing an environment for competitive economic and commercial activities that foster greater efficiencies in the economy. It intends to prevent anticompetitive conducts and practices such as forming cartels and abuse of dominant position by businesses that tend to deprive consumers of choice and negatively affecting consumer welfare.
Ladies and gentlemen,
- Holding a public consultation session like today enables the Commission to share the findings of market review with the relevant stakeholders and public in general. At the same time, we would like to hear feedback from the relevant stakeholders and public in relation to the findings that will be presented shortly by the appointed consultant.
- The draft final report of the market review is available for your reading and accessible from our website www.mycc.gov.my. The Commission would like to welcome feedback from the stakeholders and public in relation to the draft final report of the said market review.
- The Commission will give due consideration to your feedback before it is finalized and published. Written submissions will be accepted until the 19 March 2020, 5.00 p.m. I am confident with the responses we anticipate to receive will contribute greatly to the final report of the Market Review on Service Sector.
- Without taking any more time, I would like to extend my gratitude to everyone involved for their efforts towards making this event a successful public consultation session. I wish you all a pleasant day and thank you for your kind attention and participation.
Thank you, Assalamualaikum W.B.T.