All firms under Competition Act
DPM: Act to spur economy to perform better
KUALA LUMPUR: All companies regardless of size are not exempted from the Competition Act which was enacted to spur the economy to perform better, said Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
“Big, small, giant or foreign, they are all bound by the law,” he said during the first Competition Law conference in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
He said a competitive environment was conducive to enterprise productivity, growth and poverty reduction.
At the same time, consumers will also get protection due to fair prices for goods and services.
Muhyiddin said many still viewed the Act as oppressive and an obstacle or interference to the way they do business.
“The SMEs (small and medium enterprises) in particular are of the view that the Competition Act 2010 is not quite relevant to their daily operations and by virtue of size, they should be excluded,” said Muhyiddin.
But he said SMEs should not demand for exclusion, citing cartels which were in breach of the law regardless of their size.
He urged companies to comply with guidelines drawn up by the Malaysian Competition Commission (MyCC).
Infringement of the Competition Act may result in severe consequences, not only financially but also in terms of reputation to their corporation, “There are also remedies for private rights of action which means recovery for damages for those who may want to seek redress for infringements which have affected them,” said Muhyiddin.
He added that compliance must take precedence over anything else because a company’s reputation and long term success hinged not only on its service delivery but also on the way it does its business.
Also present at the event were Domestic Trade, Co-operative and Consumerism Minister Datuk Hasan Malek, the ministry’s secretary-general Datuk Saripuddin Kassim and MyCC chairman Tan Sri Siti Norma Yaakob.