Symposium on Cross-Border Supply of Services

In December 2004, the Special Session of the Council for Trade in Services had tasked the Secretariat with organizing a Symposium on Cross-Border Supply of Services. The Symposium provided a platform for information exchange and discussion on different aspects of cross-border supply of services. It brought together government officials, representatives of international organisations, and other experts and stakeholders. The Symposium was aimed at enhancing the understanding of participants of the growing economic importance of cross-border services transactions, providing insight into the experience of private sector service suppliers and discussing regulator's experience. It also allowed to discuss the role of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) for the liberalization of cross-border trade in services.

This event was intended to advance the process of internal consultation and coordination in WTO Member countries and thus help them to make informed decisions in the services negotiations under the Doha Development Agenda.

Note:
Downloadable files in Powerpoint, Word and pdf (portable document format).

> Guide to downloading files.

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> Outlines of presentations (Word format, 10 pages, 109KB)

Programme

Thursday 28 April 2005

10.00-10.15	Introduction by the Chairman: Objectives of the Symposium Rufus Yerxa, Deputy-Director General, WTO
10.15-12.00	Session I: Economic Importance of Cross-Border Trade — Recent Trends Michael Engman, Consultant, Trade Directorate, OECD > download presentation (Powerpoint format, 144KB) Mina Mashayekhi, Head, Trade Negotiations and Commercial Diplomacy Branch, DITC, UNCTAD > download presentation (Powerpoint format, 374KB) Andreas Maurer, Chief of Section, International Trade Statistics Section, WTO > Paper (PDF format, 20 pages; 101KB) Anne Miroux, Head, Investment Issues Analysis Branch, DITE, UNCTAD > download presentation (Powerpoint format, 861KB)
12.00-13.00	Session 2: The Private Sector's Experience Bernard Courtois, President & CEO, Information Technology Association (ITAC), Canada > download presentation (Powerpoint format, 219KB) Ernest L. Cu, President and Chief Executive Officer, SPI Technologies Inc., The Philippines > download presentation (Powerpoint format, 932KB)

15.00-16.30	Session 2 (cont'): The Private Sector's Experience Alastair Evans, Head, Government Affairs, Lloyd's, UK > download presentation (Powerpoint format, 78KB) > Paper (Word format, 5 pages; 54KB) Douglas Gregory, Vice President, Governmental Programs, IBM (Europe, Middle East, Africa), Belgium > download presentation (Powerpoint format, 2961KB) Ajoyendra Mukherjee, Vice-President, Tata Consultancy Services, India > download presentation (Powerpoint format, 1628KB)
16.30-18.00	Session 3: The Regulator's Experience Sebastián Sáez, Consultant, Chile > download presentation (Powerpoint format, 78KB) William Thorn, Counsellor (Education), Australian Delegation to the OECD, Paris > Paper (Word format, 18 pages; 111KB) Alastair Tosh, International Strategy & Policy Co-ordination, Financial Services Authority, UK > Paper (Word format, 6 pages 56KB)

Friday 29 April 2005 back to top

10.00-10.40	Session 4: GATS and Cross-Border Trade Hamid Mamdouh, Director, Trade in Services Division, WTO Mireille Cossy, Counsellor, Trade in Services Division, WTO > download presentation (Powerpoint format, 334KB)
10.40-11.40	Session 5: Constraints With the Existing GATS Framework and Schedules of Specific Commitments Aaditya Mattoo, Lead Economist, World Bank and Sacha Wunsch-Vincent, Economist, OECD & Visiting Fellow, Institute for International Economics > download presentation (Powerpoint format, 579KB)
11.40-13.00	Session 6: Regulatory Issues Related to Cross-Border Trade Joel Trachtman, Professor, The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, United States > download presentation (Powerpoint format, 54KB) Massimo Geloso Grosso, Trade Policy Analyst, Trade Directorate, OECD > download presentation (Powerpoint format, 95KB) Thomas Chan, Deputy Representative, Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, Geneva > download presentation (Powerpoint format, 65KB)

15.00-17.00	Final Panel: Possible Approaches to Promote Further Liberalization Within the GATS, Taking Into Account National Experience David Hartridge, Director, White and Case International Trade, Geneva Alejandro Jara, Ambassador, Permanent Mission of Chile to the WTO, Geneva Hamid Mamdouh, Director, Trade in Services Division, WTO Aaditya Mattoo, Lead Economist, World Bank > download presentation (Powerpoint format, 112KB)

Moreover, the following documents were made available during the Symposium: WTO, E-commerce and Information Technologies Sacha Wunsch-Vincent and Joanna McIntosh > download document (pdf format, 920KB) Pre-empting protectionism in services: the GATS and outsourcing Aaditya Mattoo and Sacha Wunsch-Vincent > download document (pdf format, 291KB) Loosening the shackles: the future of global higher education Prof. Michael R. Czinkota > download document (Word format, 140KB) Growth in Services Fostering Employment, Productivity and Innovation OECD > download document (pdf format, 300KB) International sourcing of it and business process services: experiences from the United States, the European Union and India Michael Engman > download document (Word format, 205KB) Distinguishing Domestic Regulation from Market Access in GATT and GATS Joost Pauwelyn > download document (pdf format, 333KB)