Services trade liberalisation and regulatory reform: Re-invigorating international cooperation

Lionel Fontagné, 25 November 2011The Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations has passed its ten-year anniversary unspectacularly and the question is now how to salvage a decade of frustrating progress. Yet even with a new ‘Ministerial’ of the World Trade Organisation being held in mid-December, this column argues that an interim agreement for poor countries and trade is sadly out of reach.Full Article: Ten years of Doha: What to show and what to look forward to

Jens Matthias Arnold, Beata Javorcik, Molly Lipscomb, Aaditya Mattoo, 12 October 2010Conventional explanations for the post-1991 growth of India’s manufacturing sector focus on trade liberalisation and industrial de-licensing. This column examines 4,000 Indian firms from 1993 to 2005 and argues that a key factor for the success of Indian manufacturing may lie outside of manufacturing – in the services sector. Full Article: Services sector reform and the Indian manufacturing miracle

Sübidey Togan, 1 April 2011The services sector accounts for almost three-quarters of GDP in developed countries and nearly half of GDP in the developing world. This column asks why the WTO trade negotiations have made such little progress on liberalising trade in services and outlines a package that could get the support required to change this. Full Article: Services trade and Doha

Bernard Hoekman, Ça?lar Özden, 2 January 2011High unemployment among the young and low skilled is fuelling anti-immigration sentiments across the OECD. This column argues that, in Western Europe, demographic trends are such that demand for many workers will exceed supply. It proposes a framework that enables the temporary movement of services providers, a policy that could address Europe’s labour needs while placating public resistance.Full Article: Can trade in services offer an alternative to migration?

Muhammad Chatib Basri, 28 April 2011The Doha Round of trade negotiations began nearly ten years ago with a focus on lowering trade barriers, particularly for the sake of developing countries. Today, the Doha Round is stuck in limbo. This column argues that both developed countries as well as developing countries stand to gain from moving the discussions forward – particularly those in the Asia Pacific region. Full Article: Asia Pacific and the Doha Round

AFP - World Trade Organisation chief Pascal Lamy said Monday that he was aga