2012 Global Forum on Competition

The 11th meeting of the OECD Global Forum on Competition took place in Paris, France on 16-17 February 2012.

Discussions focused on:

PROGRAMME (pdf): English (pdf) | Français (pdf) | Pictures

Opening session

• Opening Remarks by Mr. Angel Gurría, OECD Secretary General
• Keynote Speech by Mr. Pascal Lamy, Director General, WTO
• Keynote Speech by Mr. Otaviano Canuto, Vice President, The World Bank
• Introductory Comments by Mr. Frédéric Jenny, Chairman of the Competition Committee 

Session 1. Competition and commodity price volatility

This full day session started with an overview of recent price volatility; discussed its causes and presented recent OECD work. Substantive discussions drew on expert analysis and on the experiences of competition authorities. The day culminated in a distillation of practical suggestions for competition authorities when faced with issues in these markets.

» Full set of materials

Speakers

• Carmel CAHILL (Senior Counsellor, Trade and Agriculture Directorate, OECD) | Presentation
• Bibek DEBROY (Professor of Economics, Centre for Policy Research and International Management Institute, India) | Presentation
• Scott DAVENPORT (Executive Director, NSW Department of Trade and Investment, Australia) | Presentation
• Torbjörn IWARSON (Head of Commodities, SEB Merchant Banking, Sweden)| Presentation
• Gustavo LAGOS (Professor at the Department of Mineral Economics, Catholic University of Chile)| Presentation

Presentation by Mr. Frédéric Jenny

Break-out sessions: Competition authorities'experiences with law enforcement and advocacy

Competition and commodity price volatility - Wrap-up plenary session 

Session 2. Improving International Co-operation in Cartel Investigations

This session examined how the existing frameworks for international cooperation in cartel investigations could be modified or improved.  The roundtable also explored how international co-operation works in other fields, such as bribery, tax and money laundering, to see if any practices can be extrapolated to cartel enforcement.

» Full set of materials

Panellists:

• Malick DIALLO (SG and Commissioner, National Competition Commission, Senegal) Presentation
• Marc HANSEN (Partner, Latham & Watkins) Presentation
• Jean-Bernard SCHMID (State Prosecutor, Switzerland)
• Stefano GESUELLI (Head of Taxation, International Co-operation Office, Guardia di Finanza, Italy) Presentation
• Toshiyuki NAMBU (Deputy Secretary General for International Affairs, Japan Fair Trade Commision) Presentation

Session 3. State Owned Enterprises and Competitive Neutrality

This session allowed participants to hear the preliminary findings of the Report on Competitive Neutrality under preparation by the OECD, as well as to present country experiences with competitive distortions resulting from an uneven playing field in markets where public undertakings co-exist with private competitors. Later in 2012, the OECD published Competitive Neutrality: Maintaining a level playing field between public and private business. 

Speakers

• Pablo MÁRQUEZ (Deputy Superintendent, SCI, Colombia) Presentation
• Shila Dorai RAJ (Chief Executive Officer, Ministry of Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism, Malaysia) Presentation
• Shan RAMBURUTH (Chair, Competition Commission, South Africa) Presentation
• Andrew DEITZ (Manager, The Treasury, Australia) Presentation
• Gert-Jan KOOPMAN (Deputy Director-General, DG COMP, EU) Presentation

Final session. Evaluation and Proposals for Future Work