[Video message]
Minister Al Marri, Ms. Al-Mashat, Mr. Coeuré, Mr. Mwemba,
Excellencies, dear colleagues,
Thank you for convening us, and thank you to the United Arab Emirates for hosting this seventh edition of the Arab Competition Forum.
Allow me to begin by acknowledging the moment in which we meet. The region is under strain, and millions of families are carrying the weight of it. That competition authorities still gather here – to do the patient work of building fairer markets – is itself a sign of resilience. I commend you for it.
Allow me now to turn to the topic at hand.
At its core, competition policy is about keeping the door open – so that the next idea, the next entrepreneur, the next firm, can come from anywhere. In the digital age, that promise is being tested.
I want to make two points: a point on what is happening in digital markets and a point on what this Forum can do.
I begin with what is happening.
Digital services trade is the fastest-growing component of global commerce – expanding two to three times faster than goods trade over the past decade. And yet, that growth is increasingly captured by a handful of platforms. A small group of firms today accounts for the lion’s share of global revenues in cloud computing, search, app distribution and digital advertising.
The result is markets that grow larger, but not necessarily more competitive. Network effects, data accumulation and control of entire ecosystems make it harder, year by year, for new firms to break through.
For the Arab region, the stakes are clear. Digital economies across the region are growing rapidly. But growth without competition is fragile. Promising start-ups can be squeezed out before they reach scale, or acquired before they reach maturity. As a result, consumers pay more, choose less, and trust in markets erodes.
This brings me to my second point – what this Forum can do.
You have a full agenda before you: digital platforms, regional cooperation, merger control, closer coordination between competition and consumer protection authorities. These are all very critical issues.
UNCTAD, UN Trade and Development, will stand with you in this work through our analysis.
We will do so through the UN Set on Competition, reviewed in July 2025 and taken forward through discussions at our Intergovernmental Group of Experts on Competition Law and Policy this past July; through our partnerships with ESCWA, the OECD and the COMESA Competition and Consumer Commission; and through the technical cooperation our colleagues provide to competition authorities across this region.
So, Excellencies,
The digital economy is meant to widen opportunity. Let us make sure that promise reaches the small business in Casablanca, the developer in Amman and the entrepreneur here in Dubai.
I wish you a productive two days and look forward to the outcomes of this Forum. I thank you.