President of Turkish Competition Authority Birol Küle:

*Digital economic system obscures national borders, probably to an extent greater than ever before in history.

* While the economic power is being concentrated in a few countries, I would like to note, due to a historical responsibility, that cooperation between developing countries has become particularly important for protecting the welfare of our consumers.

*With our ongoing examinations, we are determined to become one of the most efficient competition agencies in the world in this area.

*The calculations we made according to the OECD standards show that our activities in 2017 and 2018 have contributed to consumer welfare an estimated 3.28 billion Turkish Liras.

*We hope that regional cooperation efforts like ICF can make significant contributions to the efforts of international organizations and lighten their burden.

Maria Teresa MOREIRA, Head of Competition and Consumer Protection Policy Branch, UNCTAD:

* I believe that the Forum will become a brand.

* We, as UNCTAD, are making efforts so that developing countries can integrate better to world economy and politics.
 

Istanbul Competition Forum (ICF) was held by Turkish Competition Authority and UNCTAD. The theme of the Forum was “Digitalization and International Cooperation”.

The President of the Turkish Competition Authority Birol Küle and Head of UNCTAD Competition and Consumer Protection Policy Branch Teresa Moreira made the opening speeches of the Forum, which hosted distinguished participants from UN, OECD, international competition authorities and Turkey.

President of the Turkish Competition Authority Birol Küle stated that ICF was organized with the aim of strengthening cooperation and creating a joint platform based on the need of international cooperation and a common understanding in the area of competition.

Emphasizing the importance of international cooperation in competition law, Küle said “While the economic power is being concentrated in a few countries, I would like to note, due to a historical responsibility, that cooperation between developing countries has become particularly important for protecting the welfare of our consumers.”

Pointing out that transformation the likes of which was not seen since the Industrial Revolution is changing economies, production methods, consumption trends, and consequently, all of us, Küle said:

“Nowadays, the time we spend on the Internet has become a significant part of our day-to-day lives.  In OECD countries, the youth is spending, on average, more than four hours every day online.  As a natural result of this, economic activities are shifting towards digital platforms. We are living in economies shaped by data algorithms and artificial intelligence, where every individual around the world, from the youngest to the oldest, are constantly leaving their digital footprints.

We are facing new business models, new products, new services and new markets, which were completely unimaginable a mere twenty years ago.  In 2010, there were around 800 million mobile internet subscribers, yet this number rose fivefold in just seven years to reach 4.2 billion, covering 56% of the world’s population. The value of information, especially the value of processable high-volume digital data is increasing with every passing day.  This system has led to the concentration of economic power in a small group of firms due to various reasons including the first-comer advantage and network effects.”

Birol Küle also noted that UNCTAD’s 2019 Digital Economy Report indicates that, globally, seven large brands are dominating the digital economy and around 50% of all digital spending is received by just two countries and this economic system also obscures national borders, probably to an extent greater than ever before in history.

Küle explained that with the importance of high-volume processable data increasing, the footprints we leave everywhere, from the internet sites where we shop to the social media, have become a significant asset; everyone produces this data but the ownership of it and the power to process it belong to a limited number of global companies which enjoy first-comer advantage.

Highlighting that the power held by these companies is large enough to impact not only economic life, but even political life, Küle said “Therefore, I believe that developing countries, which are not in the center of this convergence of power, need to collaborate more in order to benefit from the boons of digitalization while protecting both their consumers and the competitive structure of their economies.”

Emphasizing that with their ongoing examinations, they are determined to become one of the most efficient competition agencies in the world in this area Küle added “The calculations we made according to the OECD standards show that our activities in 2017 and 2018 have contributed to consumer welfare an estimated 3.28 billion Turkish Liras. We have contributed 51 Liras to consumers for every Lira spent by taxpayers on our activities.”

Following President Küle’s speech Head of UNCTAD Competition and Consumer Protection Policy Branch Teresa Moreira made her speech. Moreira said that they help developing countries so that they can integrate better to world economy and politics and they created certain principles and guidelines.

Pointing out that she believes that the forum would be a brand and they were continuing international cooperation for the benefit of developing countries, Moreira said “UNCTAD’s Digital Economy Report is helping developing countries with respect to globalization and digitalization”.

Following the opening speeches, the panels started. Panels included discussions on “Digitalization and Competition Law and Policy”, “International Cooperation in Competition Law Enforcement” and “Effective Enforcement Against Cartels”.

Istanbul Competition Forum ended with the closing remarks by the President of the Turkish Competition Authority Birol Küle. Küle expressed his gratitude for the interest to the Forum and thanked to the institutions (UNCTAD, OECD, TİKA) that contributed to the organization and participants.