On October 10–11, an international seminar titled "Platform Economy: Competition Law and Market Power of Digital Platforms" was held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The event was organized by the BRICS Competition Law and Policy Centre and the Competition Policy and Consumer Rights Research Centre under the Competition Promotion and Consumer Protection Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
Uzbekistan's actively developing economy presents significant potential for digital platforms, for which expansion into new markets means access to new user data in the absence of intense competition. Simultaneously, Uzbekistan is becoming a target for expansion from multiple directions: global monopolists, major regional market players from Russia and Asian countries, and local businesses. These developments necessitate a robust competition policy to ensure fair competition in the emerging digital market.
The international seminar focused on strengthening the flexibility of the two main areas of activity of the Competition Promotion and Сonsumer Protection Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan in the context of the evolving economic environment.
The event included three sessions:
- “Competition Law in Digital Markets: A Recap of Best Practices”
- “Emerging Influence of AI on Competition and Market Power in Digital Markets”
- “Merger Control in Digital Markets – the Case of Ecosystem Mergers”
On the second day of the seminar, the BRICS Centre conducted a Capacity Building Training for Competition Promotion and Consumer Protection Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan: “Regulation of Digital Markets in Emerging Economies”. This was followed by an expert discussion on the strategy of competition law enforcement in the global digital economy.
Experts discussed the following topics:
- market power of platforms and digital ecosystems, its indicators and assessment methods;
- the concept of market in the digital economy, its relationship with platforms and ecosystems;
- strategy and methods for competition monitoring of digital markets to identify abuses of market power and anticompetitive agreements by digital companies;
- monitoring and investigation of economic concentration transactions involving digital platforms, including “hybrid” forms of concentration such as joint ventures, investment agreements, and asset exchanges;
- Choosing a regulatory model for digital markets: ex ante regulation or adaptive competition law;
- Assessing the impact of Artificial Intelligence on competition in both goods and digital markets.