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PSDI hosts leadership training for PNG ICCC executive managers
The Pacific Private Sector Development Initiative’s (PSDI) competition law experts have hosted leadership training workshops for executive managers at Papua New Guinea’s (PNG) competition watchdog, the Independent Consumer and Competition Commission (ICCC).
PSDI has since 2018 led a capacity development program for the ICCC, training staff in diverse areas including investigation skills, market analysis, consumer protection, merger review, cartel enforcement, and corporate management.
This reflects PSDI’s focus on ensuring the Asian Development Bank’s 14 Pacific developing member countries possess well-functioning competition law and consumer protection frameworks, which lead to lower prices, wider consumer choice, and superior product quality.
The most recent ICCC training workshops focused on leadership training for executive managers.
The most recent ICCC training workshops, held online in late May 2022, focused on leadership training for executive managers. The activity-based sessions were complemented by assigned readings, discussions with instructors, coordinator feedback, and summary exercises.
“The PSDI team was pleased to share their deep experience in enforcement work through materials and exercises that ICCC executives can apply in their daily work,” ICCC capacity-building program lead Andrew Simpson said.
In their feedback to course instructors, ICCC executive managers cited training for “difficult conversations” and role-playing exercises as highlights of the workshop.
Well-functioning competition law and consumer protection frameworks lead to lower prices, wider consumer choice, and superior product quality.
Capacity building with the ICCC forms part of PSDI’s wide-ranging work to improve competition and consumer protection outcomes in PNG, including through the creation of a National Competition Policy (NCP) to articulate the Government of PNG’s commitment to fostering pro-competitive outcomes.
The NCP was endorsed by PNG’s National Executive Council in 2020, and PSDI is currently working with Treasury on a draft Competition and Consumer Protection Bill.
In addition to updating competition and consumer safeguards, the amendments aim to empower the ICCC to collect data on women’s participation in public procurement, and promote competitive neutrality principles.
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