UNCTAD has long-standing experience in providing technical assistance and capacity building on competition and consumer protection policies and laws all around the world. Its most successful programme is COMPAL (Competencia y Protección del Consumidor en America Latina – Competition and Consumer Protection for Latin America), which has been running for almost 10 years thanks to the financial support of the Swiss Government. The COMPAL Programme has undergone two external evaluations, which have confirmed its positive impact. In particular, the second evaluation concluded that it was “a successful, worthwhile program” and that it had made “clear contributions to institutional development in Latin America”. The Programme gained such a reputation that many countries in the Latin American region have asked to join, even at their own expense. Indeed, COMPAL started with just five member countries and now counts eight others, who joined through the Regional Component of the Programme, which aims at enhancing regional cooperation. As a result of its success, the Programme’s strategy was “exported” to Africa, namely to the West African Economic Monetary Union (WAEMU), and UNCTAD has recently adopted it as its general strategy for intervention in Competition and Consumer Protection worldwide.
- Understanding of the scope of the Programme and its main component by Heads of Competition Agencies of the MENA countries attended the ICN Annual Conference and High-level representatives of the Government of Morocco.
- Support of the MENA countries towards the regional Programme by attendance and participation during the event. The presence of the Secretary General of UNCTAD underlies the importance for UNCTAD to support this regional programme for the MENA countries.
Participants in this event will include:
Mukhisa Kituyi, Secretary General, UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
