New Delhi, Mar 10 (KNN) An International Conference on Competition & Development -How Can Competition Policy Promote Inclusive Growth is being held in the national capital on March 19.

The conference is being organized by CUTS International at the India International Centre, New Delhi.

Deliberations will be made by experts on topics like Political Economy aspects of competition and discussion and roundtable discussion will be held on How competition law and policy promote inclusive growth.

The event will be chaired by Frederick Jenny, Chairman, OECD Competition Committee and keynote address will be given my Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Former Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission of India.

Other key speakers to be present at the event include – DK Sikri, Chairman, Competition Commission of India; Teresa Moreira, Head, Competition Policy and Consumer Protection UNCTAD; and Eleanor Fox, Professor, New York University School of Law.

In its agenda, the organizers said, “The initial inclination of the contemporary discussions suggests, at least, using: (1) competition policy reform as ex ante tool to provide and promote “equality of opportunity” and (2) effective competition law enforcement to tackle market failures and adopting creation and maintenance of “robust markets” as the goal rather than economic efficiency.”

One pertinent question that needs to be deliberated is what else could be done with the competition policy/law tools to promote inclusive growth? , the agenda added.

The agenda highlighted that effective reconciliation between development and inclusive growth is required, which would understandably necessitate a robust public policy response.

This can be worked upon in at least two ways: first, by inducing “redistribution‟ through active policy interventions so that development benefits are distributed among larger public effectively. The second way would be to look at development from the lens of “equality of opportunity” and “fair access”.

“It seems that the latter is where competition policy/ law can play a more active role by facilitating well-functioning markets for all economic participants,” the agenda added.

The keynote address will be delivered by Pradeep S Mehta, Secretary General, CUTS International. (KNN Bureau)