Conference marks milestone in initiative to support services trade in developing economies

In her opening remarks, the Director-General said: "Services have been the fastest growing component of world trade over the last two decades.  And the digital revolution has super-charged this trend.  According to the WTO's latest forecast, global commercial services trade is expected to grow by 4.6% in 2025 and 4.4% in 2026, in volume terms - far outpacing merchandise trade, which is expected to expand by only 2.4% this year and 0.5% next year. Within this broader story, digitally delivered services stand out as the most dynamic segment, with projected growth rates of 6.1% in 2025 and 5.6% in 2026." 

She noted that "developing countries are increasingly seizing opportunities linked to services trade" but still face various trade barriers due to complex regulations, sectoral diversity, and fragmented policy responsibilities across ministries. "Services are now central to economic transformation in developing countries," she added.  

DG Okonjo-Iweala continued: "That is why mainstreaming services into national development strategies is no longer optional. Services are a necessity for diversification, productivity and resilience . The WTO also has an important role to play in providing targeted capacity building and technical assistance to help developing countries overcome challenges in leveraging services trade for growth."

By combining expertise from both the WTO and the World Bank, the TSD4 initiative can help countries identify regulatory and supply-side constraints, and design policies to unlock the potential of services sector growth and trade, she added.

DG Okonjo-Iweala outlined new tools and resources developed under the TS4D umbrella, which will be presented and discussed at the conference.  The new TS4D platform provides access to a Services Trade Competitiveness Diagnostic Dashboard and to the Handbook on Good Regulatory Practices to Facilitate Trade in Services.  The platform also shares information on ongoing work with regional organizations and development banks on best practices in developing economies on export promotion in services.  The new tools will support WTO and World Bank capacity building in developing economies.

DG Okonjo-Iweala called on members and partner organizations to step up collaboration to strengthen capacity building and amplify the impact of the new tools. She encouraged developing members to engage in the initiative and signal their interest if they want support in harvesting the development benefits of services trade.

"To our donor partners here today: we count on you to be engaged and ambitious. Let us remember that services are not an abstract category of trade. Services connect talent, and they help every country, no matter the size or income level, to participate meaningfully in the global economy," she said.

Nigeria's Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment Jumoke Oduwole, commended the efforts of the WTO, World Bank and other partners in supporting African countries to boost services trade. She noted: "Nigeria is a champion of intra-regional and international trade in traditional and digital services, and the services sector is the lifeblood of Nigeria's economy. They represent 58% of GDP and over 45% of formal employment globally. Nigeria is well known for financial, creative and professional services, with technology services, amongst others."

Denis Medvedev, the incoming World Bank Director for Trade, Competition and Business, emphasized the tremendous economic opportunities presented by services trade, and by greater investment in the sector. "Seventy-two per cent of the stock of global FDI is in services," he said, emphasizing the importance of the TS4D initiative in helping developing economies undertake reform in particular to reduce non-tariff barriers and deepen regional integration. "For example, some of the work has shown that fully implementing the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement could double inter- regional exports by 2035, whereas full implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement could lift trade among members by about 12%," he said.

Eiman Al-Mutairi, Vice Minister of Commerce of Saudi Arabia, shared Saudi Arabia's strategy to diversify its economy away from oil and gas by focusing on services sectors. The country has identified 20 sectors for diversification, including logistics, tourism, financial services and digital services. "We looked at all our regulations and policies, and we looked at all the obstacles and what's hindering investments from coming into Saudi Arabia and all these sectors, and we started tackling them all, one by one - the old regulations that we had," she said. A knowledge hub has been established to share Saudi Arabia's experiences with other developing economies, she added.

Tekreth Kamrang, Secretary of State of Cambodia, stressed the role of services trade in fostering inclusive growth: "Services trade accounts for more than 40% of Cambodia's GDP and employs almost 40% of the labour force. Some 80% of women are employed in the tourism and hospitality sectors." She added that the government is integrating services trade into its development strategy to attract more FDI and build capacity, with the aim of developing modern digital services, tourism, logistics and professional business services.

The United Kingdom's WTO Ambassador Kumar Iyer reaffirmed the country's support for the TS4D initiative: "The UK definitely wants as many countries as possible to be part of that global market and to be part of that global economy." He urged developing economies to make use of the tools developed under this initiative "so that you can have a sense of where you have a competitive advantage versus others".

Michael G. Tan from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Business Advisory Council, Andrew Wilson from the International Chamber of Commerce and Anabel González, Vice President of the Inter-American Development Bank, also joined the panel discussion. They all underscored the importance of services trade for developing economies' growth prospects and called for better support in this area.

Various partner organizations will hold sessions on 4 December to showcase their work in facilitating services trade.

The programme and livestream links to all sessions are available here.

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The WTO-World Bank Trade in Services for Development(TS4D) initiative was launched in the WTO Public Forum in September 2024, following the recommendations contained in the joint publication entitled "Trade in Services for Development" launched by the WTO and the World Bank in 2023. The launch of this capacity building initiative benefited from support from the government of the United Kingdom.