Trade in services: New opportunities for LDCs

One of the defining characteristics of globalization has been the growing internationalization of services. Trade in commercial services, which include travel, transport, communications and financial and professional services, accounted for about 25 per cent of world trade in 1996. In the first half of the 1990s, service exports in developing and newly-industrializing regions grew twice as fast as in the developed economies, outstripping growth rates for the export of goods (World Bank, 1997). Developments in communications and information technology, which have facilitated the movement of information and organizational change in the delivery of services, have promoted the growth in trade services (particularly in commercial services) by transnational firms.

Sustainable Development Goals:

Affordable and Clean Energy

Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions