The president of the National Commission for the Defense of Competition (ProCompetencia), Maria Elena Vasquezwarned that the Dominican Republic needs to create a culture of free competition in order to contribute to the promotion and development of economic actors.
He affirmed that as the population continues to become aware of the importance of free competition, we will have more competitive markets, better practices, an economy healthier and more foreign investment.
He said that ProCompetencia is working hard to avoid regulatory barriers that affect free competition and highlighted the importance of the advocacy work being carried out by Procompetencia.
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Fight collusion in public purchases and contracting
He explained that ProCompetencia operates with two fundamental instances, which is the Executive Directorate, a kind of prosecutor, and the Board of Directors (composed of five members), which functions as if it were a court. The first receives the complaint and proceeds to accept or reject it.
He stated that Law 42 of 2008 establishes penalties from 200 to 3,000 minimum wages for those found guilty of the crime of collusion.
But he warned that “ProCompetencia does not exist to persecute economic agents, but rather anti-competitive conduct.”
According to Vásquez, this state institution benefits consumers to the extent that it works for free and fair competition among economic agents, which, in his opinion, translates into offers of higher quality products at lower prices.
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