Competition deemed fair

Competition among the cement, steel, chemical fertiliser, animal feed, dairy and service sectors, such as aviation, banking, insurance, petroleum distribution and telecommunications is relatively fair and free of dirty tricks campaigns.

The announcement was made yesterday at a seminar to assess competition in 10 economic sectors held by the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Department of Competition Administration.

However, Le Minh Ha, a department consultant, said that some products like imported powdered milk, construction steel and fertilisers were still being falsely portrayed in advertisements.

Ha went on to say that acts of unfair competition were concentrated mainly in the service sector, with advertisements and promotions designed to discredit competitors and gain market share.

The announcement not only confirmed the effective role of Competition Law but also provided valuable information to businesses regarding which direction they should follow in the future.

Dinh Thi My Loan, general secretary of the Viet Nam Retail Association, said that details of the 10 selected areas gave good indications of price fluctuations and covered consumer interests in those sectors.

However, Loan said that the contents of the assessment remained “gentle and plump”, and did not include urgent consumer matters.

She said that sugar was a prime example, where businesses and consumers had suffered exorbitant prices while sugar stocks remained abundant.

She said the reason for this was that distributors were unable to buy supplies directly from the factories, and had to go through intermediaries who charged a higher price.

Sharing her view, economist Le Dang Doanh said apart from measures to stabilise the market price, more focus was needed on retail distribution.

Doanh said the role of competition management authorities needed to be enhanced along with the awareness of enterprises about the Competition Law. — VNS

Tags: Vietnam industries, Vietnam industry