A recent webinar emphasized the potential of services trade to stimulate growth in Latin American and Caribbean economies. Despite services trade becoming the most dynamic component of global trade in recent years, these regions have yet to fully exploit its economic benefits.
The event, titled "Trade in Services for Development: Empowering Latin America and the Caribbean Countries to Reap Development Dividends," underscored that developing economies have seen robust growth in services trade over recent years. However, commercial services exports from Latin America and the Caribbean have grown by an average of 4.8% per year since 2010, falling short of the world average of 5.5% per year.
DDG Hill stated, “Services trade has tremendous growth potential globally.” She referenced the WTO's latest Global Trade Outlook and Statistics Report, noting that “while the value of world merchandise trade in dollars decreased by 5 per cent in 2023, commercial services grew by 9 per cent in value.”
José Manuel Salazar, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, advocated for “realistic and flexible strategies to allow Latin American and Caribbean countries to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the new rules and realities of globalization”.
Anabel González, Vice-President of the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), highlighted that services trade represents a significant opportunity for growth in the region. She added: “The IADB is ready to deploy a roadmap to fully leverage the benefits of knowledge services in the region."
Francisco Lima Mena, Secretary General of the Secretariat for Central American Economic Integration, emphasized that although services sector accounts for almost 69 per cent of Central America's GDP, its contribution to GDP through exports is much lower.
Building on their report "Trade in Services for Development," The World Bank proposed elements for an Aid for Trade work programme on trade in services. Pierre Sauvé, Senior Trade Specialist at The World Bank, stressed the importance of scaling up Aid for Trade for services due to their crucial contribution to sustainable and inclusive growth.
In her concluding remarks, DDG Hill said: “The webinar marks a first step towards new joint efforts by international and regional organizations to support the countries of the region in the context of Trade in Services for Development”.
"Trade in Services for Development," a WTO-World Bank co-publication launched in July 2023, underscores the contribution of services trade in helping developing economies diversify their economy, generate economic growth from increased exports and inflows of foreign direct investment, and enhance regulatory governance.