BRICS+ Digital Competition Forum

BRICS+ Digital Competition Forum

On November 24-25, the BRICS Competition Law and Policy Centre in cooperation with FGV Law School in Rio de Janeiro and CADE organized Digital Competition Forum in the BRICS+ format. The experts discussed the latest trends and initiatives in ensuring competition in digital markets in the BRICS countries. Heads and nominated representatives of the antitrust authorities of the BRICS countries, partner countries and potential new BRICS members (Argentina, Egypt, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan), as well as top experts and researchers from around the world discussed challenges and best practices in the field of digital markets competition.

The first day of the forum featured a meeting of the BRICS Working Group for Research of Competition Issues in Digital Markets and a presentation of the joint Ecoantitrust project by the BRICS Competition Law and Policy Centre and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA). 

The second day of the forum included a workshop to review the ecoantitrust concept presented earlier. There was also a strategic case study session: a hypothetical merger of two digital systems was simulated to discuss the potential and opportunities for cooperation between BRICS+ antitrust agencies. The forum concluded with the presentation of the book "Digital Ecosystems: A Brazilian Perspective." 


BRICS+ Digital Competition Forum

24 - 25 November 2022

Agenda

November 24th: BRICS Working Group on Digital Economy & EcoAntitrust Project

Rio de Janeiro, Praia de Botafogo 190 (FGV Law School) and via Zoom

09.30-09.40

Welcome and introduction

  • Sergio Guerra, Dean, FGV Direito Rio
  • Nicolo Zingales, Professor, FGV Law School in Rio de Janeiro (FGV Direito Rio)
  • Alexey Ivanov, Director, BRICS Competition Law & Policy Centre
  • Luca Belli, Coordinator, Centre for Technology and Society at FGV Direito Rio (CTS-FGV)

09.40-10.50

Opening speeches by authorities

This session is aimed at taking stock of recent trends and initiatives in the enforcement of competition in digital markets in the BRICS.

  • Chair: Alexandre Cordeiro Macedo, President of Conselho Administrativo de Defensa Economica (CADE)

Speakers:

  • Andrey Tsyganov, Deputy Head, Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) Russia
  • Shri Rajinder Kumar, Director of Economics, Competition Commission of India
  • Itumeleng Lesofe, Senior Legal Analyst, South African Competition Commission
  • Gustavo Augusto Freitas de Lima, Commissioner, CADE
  • Wang Lile, Director of the Second Department of Antimonopoly Enforcement, State Anti-Monopoly Bureau of China (virtual)
  • Rodrigo Luchinsky, President, National Commission for the Defence of Competition (NCDC) Argentina
  • Mahmoud Momtaz, Chairman, Egyptian Competition Authority
  • Farrukh Karabaev, Vice-Chairman, Antimonopoly Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan (virtual)
  • H.E. Mr. PAN Sorasak, Minister of Commerce, Chair, Cambodia Competition Commission (CCC) (virtual)
  • Representative of Indonesia Competition Commission (virtual)

10.50- 12.20

Advancements and commonalities in BRICS approaches to digital markets

This session is aimed at defining common traits in the approaches to digital markets in the BRICS. It will include a presentation of the draft report on digital markets developed by CADE with input from all BRICS authorities, a reflection on the significance of developments happened since the 2019 report by BRICS authorities, and a roundtable discussion on future steps of the Working Group.

Chair: Ricardo Medeiros de Castro, Deputy Chief Economist, CADE

Speakers:

  • Eduardo Pontual Ribeiro, Professor of Economics, UFRJ
  • Svetlana Golovanova, Professor, Higher School of Economics, Russia 
  • Nicolo Zingales, Professor, FGV Direito Rio

Discussants:

  • Andrey Tsyganov, Deputy Head, FAS
  • Shri Rajinder Kumar, Director of Economics, Competition Commission of India
  • Itumeleng Lesofe, Senior Legal Analyst, South African Competition Commission
  • Wang Lile, Director of the Second Department of Antimonopoly Enforcement, State Anti-Monopoly Bureau of China (virtual)

13.30-15.00

EcoAntitrust: Presentation of the Project

Digital platforms and digital ecosystems (networks of suppliers, consumers, and other actors formed around platforms) have taken centre stage in the digital economy and have been pulling over an increasing share of economic activity. These new phenomena have already created serious enforcement challenges for competition authorities around the world. Complex and adaptive nature of ecosystems dictates also the adaptation of competition laws to the realities of the ecosystem economy.This session includes two complementary presentations of the results of the EcoAntitrust project, which aims to provide a framework for using ecological concepts to understand the competitive environment and design optimal antitrust remedies.

  • Chair: Patrícia Regina Pinheiro Sampaio, Professor, FGV Direito Rio

Speakers:

  • Alexey Ivanov, Director, BRICS Competition Law and Policy Centre
  • Elena Rovenskaya, Program Director, IIASA

Discussants:

  • Paulo Furquim de Azevedo, Professor, INSPER
  • Caio Mario da Silva Pereira Neto, Professor, FGV Direito São Paulo
  • Tembinkosi Bonakele, Former Chairman, South African Competition Commission

November 25th: BRICS+ Digital Competition Workshop & Book Launch

Rio de Janeiro, Praia de Botafogo 330 (Novotel Botafogo) and via Zoom

9.30 – 18.30

10.00 – 12.00

Reflection Workshop: Feedback and Discussion on Day 1

This session aims to provide a space for reactions, feedback and suggestions over the products that were presented in day 1. It will include reflections by the BRICS authorities on a refined approach to antitrust analysis in digital markets, as well as over how a more ‘ecoantitrust’ approach could contribute to the global discussion about the adaptation of competition law to the new economic and social reality.

  • Chairs: Alexey Ivanov, Director of BRICS Competition Law and Policy Centre; and Elena Rovenskaya, Program Director, IIASA; and Nicolo Zingales, Professor, FGV Direito Rio

Speakers:

  • Víctor Oliveira Fernandes, Commissioner, CADE
  • Andrey Tsyganov, Deputy Head, Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) Russia
  • Rodrigo Luchinsky, President, NCDC, Argentina
  • Mahmoud Momtaz, Chairman, Egyptian Competition Authority
  • Wang Lile, Director of the Second Department of Antimonopoly Enforcement, State Anti-Monopoly Bureau of China (virtual)
  • Shri Rajinder Kumar, Director of Economics, Competition Commission of India
  • Itumeleng Lesofe, Senior Legal Analyst, South African Competition Commission
  • Vikas Kathuria, Associate Professor, BML Munjal Law School
  • Aldash Aitzhanov, President of Center for Development and Protection of Competition Policy
  • Cui Zhiyuan, Professor, School of Public Policy and Management in Tsinghua University (virtual)

13.00- 15.00

Case-study: Hypothetical BRICS Merger Review

This workshop proposes a reflection on a hypothetical merger of two digital ecosystems in the form of a case study to discuss the potential and challenges of the BRICS+ cooperation in antitrust enforcement.

Chairs: Caio Mario de Silva Pereira Neto, Professor, FGV Direito São Paulo; and Eduardo Gaban, Director of Brazilian Institute for Competition and Innovation

Case presentation:

  • Alexey Ivanov, Director, BRICS Competition Law and Policy Centre
  • Daria Kotova, Researcher, BRICS Competition Law and Policy Centre

Case Discussion Panel:

  • Ricardo Medeiros de Castro, Deputy Chief Economist, CADE
  • Víctor Oliveira Fernandes, Commissioner, CADE
  • Gustavo Augusto Freitas de Lima, Commissioner, CADE
  • Andrey Tsyganov, Deputy Head, Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) Russia
  • Shri Rajinder Kumar, Director of Economics, Competition Commission of India
  • Itumeleng Lesofe, Senior Legal Analyst, South African Competition Commission
  • Wang Lile, Director of the Second Department of Antimonopoly Enforcement, State Anti-Monopoly Bureau of China (virtual)
  • Rodrigo Luchinsky, President, NCDC, Argentina
  • Mahmoud Momtaz, Chairman, Egyptian Competition Authority
  • Tembinkosi Bonakele, Former Chairman, South African Competition Commission
  • Jia Kai, Associate Professor, School for Public Policy and Administration at the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (virtual)

15.30- 17.30

Book launch Digital Ecosystems: a Brazilian perspective

This session will include a few presentations of and reactions to the book “From Digital Platforms to Ecosystems: Challenges and Proposals”, FGV Press 2022 (edited by Nicolo Zingales and

Paula Farani de Azevedo). It will share insights and reflections on how the Brazilian legal system can deal with the peculiar characteristics of digital ecosystems.

  • Chair: Nicolo Zingales, Professor, FGV Direito Rio

Presenters:

  • Juliana Domingues, Chief Prosecutor, CADE (virtual)
  • Paulo Furquim, Professor, INSPER
  • Rafaella Schwartz Jaroslasky, former Researcher, CTS-FGV
  • Bruno Droghetti, Partner, Figuereido e Velloso
  • Bruno Renzetti, Professor, INSPER

Discussants:

  • Camila Leite Contri, Researcher, IDEC
  • Rafael Zanatta e Helena Secaf Santos, Executive Director and Researcher, Data Privacy Brasil (virtual)
  • Michel Roberto de Souza, Public Policy Director, Derechos Digitales (virtual)
  • Silvia Fagá Almeida, Director, LCA Consultores
  • Caio Mario da Silva Pereira Neto, Professor, FGV Direito São Paulo
  • Carolina Saito, Researcher, USP
  • Marcela Mattiuzzo, Researcher, USP

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