New competition law to better manage economic concentration

The new competition law will create a legal framework to better manage economic concentration.- Photo forbesvietnam.com.vn

Tran Phuong Lan from the Viet Nam Competition and Consumer Protection Authority said at a recent workshop to disseminate the Law on Competition 2018 that the law enables antitrust investigations, even for economic concentration deals conducted overseas that impact the market.

The old Law on Competition 2004 has limited ability to investigate overseas deals.

The new law would also help better control economic concentration deals which resulted in unreasonable increases in marine transport fees or medicine prices, for example, according to Lan.

Regarding Grab’s acquisition of Uber in Southeast Asia, including Viet Nam, Lan said that the antitrust investigation will be carried out until mid-November.

This case will be handled following the Law on Competition 2018 if the investigation is still ongoing on July 1, 2019 when the new law comes into effect.

In the 2004 law, an enterprise or group of enterprises with a market share of 30 per cent or more was considered dominant and restricting competition. However, the new law says that market share of 30 per cent or more does not always mean the antitrust regulations are violated if the dominant enterprises do not have significant impacts on the market.

In a document sent to the competition authority, Grab said that its market share after acquiring Uber in Viet Nam was below 30 per cent but the ride-hailing firm did not provide detailed evidence for the figure.

Nguyen Sinh Nhat Tan, acting Director of the Viet Nam Competition and Consumer Protection Authority, urged firms to study the new competition law carefully to avoid violations because there were many new points.

Tan said that the Ministry of Industry was speeding up the compilation and issuance of decrees to instruct the implementation of the Law on Competition 2018.

The law was expected to create a healthy competition environment to promote economic development, Tan said.

The Law on Competition 2018 was passed on June 12.