Competitive markets resilient to economic uncertainties: Sachin Pilot

NEW DELHI: Linking foreign investments to competitiveness of an economy, Corporate Affairs Minister Sachin Pilot today said that more competitive markets are relatively resilient to adverse economic conditions.

"Decisions of foreign investments are taken on the basis of how investments are protected and how competitive markets are", Pilot said, while adding that gains from liberalisation can be fully realised with greater competitiveness.

In his keynote address at the BRICS International Competition Conference being organised here, Pilot said calibrated regulation protects consumer interests and that the relationship between trade and investment policies and competition policies are complementary.

On the same occasion, Indian fair trade regulator Competition Commission of India Chairman Ashok Chawla said that the conference would act as a catalyst to take forward cooperation among BRICS nations.

The ongoing summit would discuss various issues and challenges in competition enforcement in BRICS countries and take the agenda of cooperation among the BRICS competition authorities forward from the earlier two conferences.

Besides, Competition Commission of India (CCI) will also sign a MoU with European Union (EU) on competition issues. A Delhi Accord shall be signed with BRICS competition authorities on the second day of the conference tomorrow.

The two-day conference was inaugurated this morning by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who called for greater cooperation among the five BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa).

The conference is organised biennially by one of the BRICS competition authorities, and the first such conference was held in Russia in September 2009.

The second BRICS ICC was organised in China in September 2011.