Competition watchdog launches website to help SMEs

The Competition Commission launched a one-stop information website to equip small and medium-sized enterprises with better knowledge of the Competition Ordinance and identify possible risks.

This came after the watchdog found only 24 percent of SMEs had set up self-compliance programs or organized relevant training about the Competition Ordinance following a survey of 1,000 citizens and 600 companies.

It also found that over 70 percent of respondents recognized a close relationship between themselves or their business and the ordinance. Some 81 percent of enterprise respondents also had basic knowledge of the ordinance.

Executive director of policy and advocacy Gary Shiu said at the launching ceremony on Tuesday that the commission aims to prevent and intercept anti-competitive practices at source by launching the website.
There are 360,000 SMEs, accounting for over 98 percent of the total firms in the city and providing more than 1.2 million jobs.

“SMEs have been making significant economic contributions to Hong Kong. However, they face higher risks of violating the ordinance or falling victim to anti-competitive behavior due to limited resources,” Shiu said.

The commission developed the bilingual website – Small & Medium Enterprises Competition Compliance Hub (https://sme.compcomm.hk/en) – with four major components, including a briefing on the nine key aspects of the Competition Ordinance, risk assessment tools, solutions to anti-competitive practices and a competition compliance program template.

(Ayra Wang)