What is at Stake for Developing Countries in Trade Negotiations on E-commerce?

The expansion of the digital economy has transformed the way we produce, consume and do business. With the rapid expansion of e-commerce, increasing calls were made for common rules in the framework of the World Trade Organization (WTO) for governing cross-border e-commerce in goods and services, and the Joint Statement Initiative (JSI) negotiations on e-commerce were launched in 2019. What would allow developing countries to harness potential benefits of e-commerce whereas the digital divide is still significant within and among countries? The study assesses salient issues at stake for developing countries in the JSI negotiations and draws policy implications for their efforts at fostering the digital economy for development.

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