SERVICES: SEMINAR

Dedicated session of the Council for Trade in Services — Review of the operation of preferences notified under the LDC services waiver

Facilitating the increasing participation of least-developed countries in trade in services

Geneva, WTO Headquarters Room W

The Council for Trade in Services (CTS) agreed on 27 June 2019 to hold a Dedicated Session as part of the mandate in the Nairobi Ministerial Decision that the Council initiate a process to review the operation of preferences notified under the LDC Services Waiver. The Dedicated Session, which was held on 29 and 30 October 2019, consisted of a Workshop and a formal meeting of the CTS.

10:00- 10:20

Welcome by the chairman of the workshop

H.E. Mr Geert MUYLLE, Permanent Representative of Belgium to the WTO, Chairman of the Council for Trade in Services
Remarks

Opening remarks

  • Mr Roberto AZEVÊDO, Director-General, World Trade Organization
    Remarks
  • H.E. Mr Yackoley Kokou JOHNSON, Ambassador of Togo on behalf of
    H.E. Mr Christopher ONYANGA APARR, Permanent Representative of Uganda to the WTO
    Remarks

10:20-11:20 - SESSION 1

LDC performance in services exports

The introductory session provided an overview of LDC services exports.  It discussed the factors that may explain the current performance.  The session set the scene for the three subsequent sessions. 

  • Ms Barbara D'ANDREA ADRIAN, Senior Statistician, Economic Research and Statistics Division, WTO
    Presentation
  • Mr Bernard HOEKMAN, Director, Global Economics at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University Institute
    Presentation
  • Mr Pierre SAUVÉ, Senior Trade Specialist, Macroeconomics, Trade and Investment Global Practice, World Bank Group
    Presentation

Questions and Answers

11:20-13:00 - SESSION 2

Enhancing LDCS services export performance — what have we learnt?

Session 2 of the Workshop provided information on efforts to enhance LDC services export performance. Representatives from LDCs, international organizations, as well as Members' development cooperation agencies reported on their strategies, highlighted certain programmes, shared lessons learnt, and any best practices they had developed in this context.

  • Ms. Liping ZHANG, Senior Economic Affairs Officer, Division of International Trade in Goods and Services, and Commodities, UNCTAD
    Presentation
  • Mr Jean-Philippe RODDE, Economic Affairs Officer, Technical Cooperation Section, UNCTAD
    Presentation
  • Mr Quan ZHAO, Trade Policy Advisor, Research and Strategies for Exports, ITC
    Presentation
  • Mr. Jib Rab KOIRALA, Former Joint Secretary, Ministry of Commerce, Government of Nepal
    Presentation
  • Dr Christian PITSCHAS, Advisor, Sector Project “Trade and Investment for Sustainable Development”, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)
    Presentation
  • Mr Oscar GROSSER-KENNEDY, Services and Digital Trade Section, Office of Trade Negotiations, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australia
    Presentation
  • Ms Sheri-Nouane DUNCAN-JONES, Senior Development Advisor (USAID) to USUN Mission Geneva
    Remarks
  • Dr Yahya GÜLSEVEN, Senior Expert in Development Cooperation, Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA)
    Presentation

Other representatives from WTO Members shared their experiences from the floor.

Questions and Answers

13:00-15:00

Lunch break

15:00-17:00 - SESSION 3

Success factors, main difficulties, and issues to address

LDC services exporters shared their experiences, describing the factors that allowed them to develop into successful exporters, highlight difficulties and set out the most important issues that needed to be addressed to improve LDC participation in services trade.

  • Mr Peter VAN GILST, Chief Technical Advisor, CBI, Netherlands
    Presentation
  • Mr Patrick KAGENDA, CEO, Data Care, Uganda
    Presentation
  • Mr Mahamadi ROUAMBA, CEO, TICANALYSE and BeoogoLAB, Burkina Faso
    Presentation
  • Ms Fatimata Kouyate ep CISSE, General Director, Timbuctours, Mali
    Remarks
  • Mr Sowany Joseph MATOU, CEO, Entani Tours, Vanuatu
    Presentation

Questions and Answers

17:00-17:50 - SESSION 4

Services waiver preferences — what are they and how can they best be used?

The WTO Secretariat provided background to, and an overview of current preferences notified under the LDC Services Waiver. Representatives from WTO Members shared their experiences on how preferences have been used and how their use can be optimised

  • Mr Markus JELITTO, Counsellor, Trade in Services and Investment Division, WTO Secretariat
    Presentation
  • Representatives from WTO Members are invited to share their experiences on how preferences have been used and how their use can be optimised.

Questions and Answers

17:50-18:00 - CLOSING REMARKS

H.E. Mr Geert MUYLLE, Permanent Representative of Belgium to the WTO, Chairman of the Council for Trade in Services
Remarks

For further information on Services and LDCs, including the LDC Services Waiver, see Trade in services and LDCs

The objective of the workshop is to allow Members and relevant stakeholders to share information related to the participation of least-developed countries (LDCs) in trade in services and the expansion of their services trade.

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