CCP chairman outlines competition reforms

Farid Ahmad Tarar, who heads the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP), spoke for the country at China's 2026 National Fair Competition Conference in Xi'an. According to The Express Tribune, he set out how Pakistan's competition regime works, along with recent institutional changes and steps to draw in investment.

Hosted by China's State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR), the two-day gathering ran on September 7-8 with a theme centred on a unified national market and fair competition. Heads and senior officials of competition authorities from China, Brazil, France, Georgia, South Korea, Russia, Singapore and several other countries attended.

Tarar argued that robust competition institutions are growing in importance for investment, innovation, productivity and sustainable growth, while ensuring consumers benefit from competitive markets. He described a move toward intelligence-led enforcement, with a Market Intelligence Unit that has identified more than 225 potential cases across sectors. The commission's priorities include cartels, abuse of dominance, deceptive marketing and emerging digital market concerns. The CCP has also issued 121 merger clearance orders, which it says facilitated approximately Rs29.65 billion in foreign direct investment.