6th CUTS-CIRC Biennial Conference on Competition, Regulation and Development

Welcome to Biennial

Consumer Unity and Trust Society (CUTS International) and CUTS Institute for Regulation & Competition (CIRC) organised the 6th Biennial Conference on Competition, Regulation and Development on December 01-02, 2019 in New Delhi, India. Through the 6th edition, the international conference entered in its 12th year and as always, it brought together a unique set of expert stakeholders from across the globe.

The theme of the conference was “Making Competition and Regulatory Regimes Matter in Increasingly Online Developing World”. The objective of the conference was to discuss the current state of competition and regulation regimes in developing economies, challenges posed and opportunities offered by increasingly online developing world, and policy and implementation innovations required to make them matter for sustainable development. The conference was attended by close to 100 participants from around the globe, representing competition agencies, industry bodies, regulators, inter-governmental organisations, development organisations, law firms, civil society, media, and academia.

Some eminent personalities that deliberated during the event include: Baijayant ‘Jay’ Panda, National Vice President BJP and Former Member of Parliament, India; George K. Lipimile, Director and CEO, COMESA Competition Commission; Joel Abraham, CEO, Fijian Competition and Consumer Commission; Sangeeta Verma, Member, Competition Commission of India; Amit Kapoor, Honorary Chairman, Institute for Competitiveness; Rene Van Berkel, Representative, Regional Office India, UNIDO; Rathin Roy, Director, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy; Payal Malik, Adviser (Economics) & Head of Economics Division, Competition Commission of India; Arvind Mayaram, former Finance Secretary of India and Chairman, CIRC; Caron Beaton-Wells, Professor, The University of Melbourne; Raju Parakkal, Associate Professor, Thomas Jefferson University; Barak Y. Orbach, Professor, University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law; Jonathan Wong, Chief of Technology and Innovation, UNESCAP; Kusha Haraksingh, Immediate Past Chairman and Commissioner, CARICOM Competition Commission; Duangthip Chomprang, Director, International Institute for Trade and Development; Pierre Horna, Legal Affairs Officer, Competition and Consumer Policies Branch, UNCTAD; Ryohei Yoshinari, Assistant Director, International Affairs Division, Japan Fair Trade Commission; Peter Misiani Mwencha, Lecturer, Kenyatta University; and Allan Asher, Chair, Foundation for Effective Markets & Governance.

The deliberations at the event, containing all together five sessions, not only laid out clear competition and regulation challenges posed by a digital economy, but also deliberated on the possible way forward for addressing them. It is to be noted that the life of a modern consumer is dependent on digital technology, which is largely provided by large multi-national foreign companies. Some of such companies may become or may have already become too big to regulate. An appropriate regulatory response is much needed at this stage. However, the same should not stifle innovation, nor should it hamper the transition of any country from a traditional economy to a knowledge-based economy. The interests of all stakeholders must be taken into account while devising regulatory responses, with special emphasis on consumer welfare. It also came out that competition reform can be a useful tool to deal with emerging challenges, particularly those posed by digital economy. Adoption and implementation of a national competition policy can institutionalise such reform process.

As the way forward it came out that CUTS and CIRC should continue its proactive engagement with relevant stakeholders, especially policy makers and regulators across sectors and jurisdiction, to further its mission of consumer sovereignty. Engagement with inter-governmental organisations, non-government organisations and consumer/advocacy groups across borders may also be useful in order to gain a diverse perspective on evolving competition and regulatory issues, along with learning from the experience of other researches within this realm. The inter-linkages between competition, regulation and social sciences may also be explored in depth.

What’s New

6th CUTS-CIRC Biennial Conference on Competition, Regulation and Development
December 01-02, 2019
Agenda | Speaker Profile | Press Release | Conference Snapshot | Report

Conference Programme

6th CUTS-CIRC Biennial Conference on Competition, Regulation and Development
December 01-02, 2019
-> Agenda
-> Flyer
-> Speaker Profile
-> List of Participants
-> Press Release
-> Conference Snapshot

Past Events

5th CUTS-CIRC Biennial Competition, Regulation and Development Conference
Jaipur, November 9-11, 2017

4th Biennial Conference: “Relevance of Competition & Regulatory Reforms in Pursuing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Developing Countries”
Nairobi, December 12-13, 2015
The conference objective was to highlight ways in competition and regulatory reforms can be used for achieving developmental objectives, especially some of the challenges that the post-2015 agenda presents – referred to as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

3rd Biennial Conference: “Competition Reforms: Emerging Challenges in a Globalising World”
New Delhi, November 18-19, 2013
The conference was another attempt to forge convergence by putting on display different approaches for rationalising, formulating and evaluating economic regulation as well as defining stakeholder participation in such regulation.

2nd Biennial Conference: Reviewing the Global Experience with Economic Regulation – A Forward Looking Perspective
New Delhi, April 18-20, 2011
The aim of the conference was to stimulate research and thinking among governments and other segments of the policy community on the future agenda of regulatory reforms.

1st Biennial Conference: “Political Economy Constraints in Regulatory Regimes in Developing Countries”
New Delhi, March 22-24, 2007
The Symposium was organised to deliberate on research findings that emerged in the first cycle of the “Competition, Regulation and Development Research Forum (CDRF)” Project. Research papers focusing on political economy and governance constraints that developing countries face in implementing their competition and regulatory regimes were discussed at the symposium.