Consumers International hosts ‘Consumer Rights in the Digital Economy’ Workshop in Oman

23 February 2017

Earlier this month Consumers International hosted a ‘Consumer Rights in the Digital Economy’ workshop in Muscat, Oman. The workshop tied in to our wider campaign, Building a Digital World Consumers can Trust, which is the theme for World Consumer Rights Day 2017. A key focus area on the day was the challenges posed to consumer protection by the development of new technologies and how these challenges can be addressed.

 

Consumer protection expert Dr. Pierre El Khoury receiving his Certificate of Participation at the Digital Workshop


The event, which was organised under the auspices of H. E. Sheikh Sa'ad bin Mohammed bin Said al Mardhouf al Sa'adi, Minister of Sport Affairs, was attended by the Chairman of the Public Authority for Consumer Protection (PACP) and staff, Bart Combée, President of Consumers International, and digital consumer protection experts from across the Middle East.

The first two sessions were led by Information and Communication Technology and consumer protection expert Dr. Pierre El Khoury who discussed the social, economic and legal implications of the speed at which the digital economy is growing in the Middle East and across the globe. Dr. El Khoury emphasised that as the development of new digital technologies accelerates, consumer protection is failing to keep pace.

In the third session, Consumers International’s Advocacy Director Justin Macmullan discussed the role of consumer education and information in helping people to keep their data safe and avoid scams online.

G20 Consumer Summit

In a continuation of the issues discussed at the workshop in Oman, consumer protection in the digital age will be on the international agenda next month at the G20 Consumer Summit in Berlin, Germany.

The summit, which is being held on World Consumer Rights Day as part of the German presidency of the G20, will be hosted by Consumers International, the German Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection (BMJV), and the Federation of German Consumer Organisations (vzbv).