ISLAMABAD, 23 FEBRUARY 2021: The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP), in collaboration with the United Kingdom’s Competition and Market Authority (CMA), has launched a series of capacity building workshops wherein the CMA’s officials and experts will train the CCP’s staff on different enforcement techniques and methodologies.

As part of this renewed collaboration between the CCP and CMA, two sessions on ‘Generating Case Leads and Planning Cartel Investigations’ were held online, which were attended by 30 officers of the CCP enforcement team. Mujtaba Ahmad Lodhi, who is currently in charge of the Office of International Affairs and Mergers & Acquisitions, and other senior officials also participated in the sessions.

The CMA team comprising Alex Schofield (Principal Policy Advisor), Ms. Eva Nickel (Assistant Director, Cartels), and Gary Bracken (Assistant Director, Investigation), gave presentations in these sessions.

In the first session, Ms. Eva Nickel was the presenter who focused on the UK’s cartel regime and leniency program, stages of a CMA leniency application in practice, and ex-officio investigations and campaigns. Gary Bracken, Assistant Director, Investigation, was the presenter in the second session and briefed the participants on planning investigations, issues in delivering effective enforcement outcomes, and effective methods of conducting inspections and interviews.

The CCP acknowledged the CMA’s efforts in enhancing collaboration and building cooperation between the two agencies. Such a series of sessions for various other topics will be continued in near future.