World Bank, WTO chiefs call to revive services trade talks in order to reduce poverty

World Bank, WTO chiefs call to revive services trade talks in order to reduce poverty

The heads of the World Bank and the World Trade Organization on Monday called for countries to boost efforts to make trade in global services more transparent and predictable, saying this could help developing countries reduce poverty.

Services such as tourism and telecommunications generate more than two-thirds of global GDP but barriers for services trade are higher than for goods, the joint report by the two institutions entitled ‘Trade in Services for Development’ said.

For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app. The WTO has a mandate to liberalize services but its member states have not collectively improved market access since 1997 when deals were struck on telecommunications, it said. “There is a need to reignite international cooperation in the services sector,” said World Bank President Ajay Banga and WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala in the report’s foreword. “Such efforts need to expand trade and investment, reduce trade costs, bring about greater transparency and predictability on trade policy regimes