Foreword

The financial and economic crisis of 2008-2009 and its aftermath have accelerated a number of structural shifts towards the global South in terms of global demand, production networks and global value chains (GVCs). The continued spread of information and communications technologies and the heightened imperative for cost savings through economies of scale and new sources of technical efficiency have combined to facilitate the unbundling of service activities. A broadening range of outsourced business services have been offshored to countries in the South. Rapid growth of trade in such services has been further facilitated by the liberalization of trade and investment in goods and services, whether pursued autonomously or negotiated in the context of preferential trade and investment agreements.

Related Subject(s): Economic and Social Development