A memorandum of cooperation (MoC) between the Bangladesh Competition Commission (BCC) and the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) is expected to be signed in March, sources said.
The move has been taken to promote cooperation in competition-related laws and policies as well as to strengthen the state-run BCC, they added.
Following the JFTC's request, the BCC urged the Ministry of Commerce to give necessary instruction whether the proposed MoC would be signed in March or during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's official visit to Japan. The visit was previously scheduled for November 2022, and is now likely to be held any time in 2023.
Both the entities earlier agreed to sign the MoC during the prime minister's Japan visit in Nov. Later, the JFTC declined to sign it during the visit and proposed to do it in March 2023. The BCC and the JFTC finalised the MoC for signing it.
In 2012, the Competition Act was enacted in the country to promote, ensure and sustain a congenial atmosphere for competition in trade as well as to prevent, control and eradicate collusion, monopoly and oligopoly, combination or abuse of dominant position, or activities adverse to competition, according to the BCC officials.
