19 May 2022, Budapest - Young people from 17 countries came to the four-day seminar of the Regional Centre for Competition established by the Hungarian Competition Authority and the OECD.
Since 2005, the Hungarian Competition Authority (GVH) has been operating the Regional Centre for Competition in Budapest in cooperation with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which, building on the professional background of the two organisations, provides support in the field of competition law and competition policy, primarily for the competition authorities of the countries of Eastern, South-Eastern and Central Europe. With the Centre Hungary plays a leading role in the development of transitional economies and in providing technical assistance in the region. There are three OECD regional centres in the world, the first of them was founded in Budapest. Later the OECD established two similar centres: one in South Korea and the other in Peru.
This time, young or early-career competition authority staff from the beneficiary countries came to the seminar entitled "Competition law principles and procedures" organized by the OECD-GVH Regional Centre for Competition in Budapest. Participants of the event were able to learn from GVH and OECD experts, as well as corporate competition experts, inter alia, about the detection of cartels, the types of abuses of dominant position and their remedies, or aspects of merger control and methods of analysis of concentrations. The four-day seminar presented to young employees all the essential aspects of competition law and administrative procedures in an interactive, practice-focused manner which also involved case simulations.
"The proper recruitment of professionals is crucial for all competition authorities. The average age of the employees of the Hungarian national competition authority is 38 years, so we understand the language of young people. We are aware of the value of professional training in competition law in cooperation with the OECD. It is an honour to have been able to contribute to the training of new professionals from the Central and Eastern European region." – said Csaba Balázs Rigó, President of the Hungarian Competition Authority.
„More than 40 young competition officials have gathered in Budapest to attend a seminar on the foundations of competition policy. They come from 17 different economies in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. It has been an amazing opportunity for capacity building and experience sharing. Even more importantly, they have met and worked together for 4 days. Their personal relationships will certainly be a solid basis for enhanced cooperation and mutual understanding by their respective competition authorities. The OECD is delighted to cooperate with the GVH in this important initiative.” – said Ori Schwartz, Head of the Competition Division of the OECD.
The joint regional training programme of the GVH and the OECD will continue throughout the year as approved last autumn, among other things, with judicial training, for which the GVH has received financial support from the European Commission.
Press Office of the GVH