Mission

The Global Services Network (GSN) is an informal, private sector-led forum, which gathers the global services community of business people, government officials, academics, and others who are committed to increased trade and investment in services, and a rules-based, multilateral trading system.
GSN's participants are dedicated to build global support to achieve liberalisation of international services trade through all forums which promise progress toward our mutual goals. Read more at About GSN.

Recent Updates

15 May 2012

• This week's services and trade news
• McKinsey Global Institute's report speaks to merits of services liberalisation

8 May 2012

• This week's services and trade news
• Harnessing Services Trade for Development: A Background and Guide on Service Coalitions in Africa and the Caribbean
• PIIE Policy Brief: Framework for the International Services Agreement
• USITC Working Paper: "Nontariff Measures in the Global Retailing Industry"

1 May 2012

• This week's services and trade news

24 April 2012

• This week's services and trade news
• "Audio-visual Services: International Trade and Cultural  Policy" (ABDI Working Paper)
• Diplomacy Dialogue Debate: "Could plurilateral agreements provide a way forward out of the current impasse of the WTO/Doha Round?"

18 April 2012

• This week's services and trade news round-up
• USTR Ron Kirk: Rethinking 'Made In America'
• Coalition for U.S.-Russia Trade (PNTR facts)

13 April 2012

• This week's services and trade news round-up
• U.S. - E.U. Investment Principles

5 April 2012

• This week's services and trade news round-up

19 March 2012

• Business Community letter on innovation and IPR within Rio+20 addressed to Sec. Clinton and Amb. Kirk

15 March 2012

• Forbes Article on Brad Jensen book "Global Trade in Services: Fears, Facts, and Offshoring"

28 February 2012

• Services and trade news round-up
• Washington Post op-ed: Georgetown professor says services more important than manufacturing
• Reuters article on Ed Gresser's new study "Time to Update Global Services Trade Rules"
• GSC's 2012 Annual Global Services Summit Announced

24 February 2012

• Paper: Framework for the International Services Agreement

2 February 2012

• News coverage of Ausralian Trade Minister Emerson at Davos regarding servcies plurialterals.

20 December 2011

• WTO Ministerials conclude, see statements and highlights here.
• PECC calls for new Approaches on Services Negotiations, click here for more.
• WITA event recap: "Services and Trade Investment" (29 November 2011)

18 November 2011

• APEC Leaders Call for "fresh and credible approaches" at WTO Ministerial
• WTO Releases Updated Dataset of Services Commitments in Regional Trade Agreements
• Annual Report of the WTO Council for Trade in Services

11 November 2011

• ABAC Calls for New Services Initiatives in APEC
• PECC/ADBI Services Policy Brief

7 November 2011

• G20 Calls for "Fresh, Credible Approaches" on Doha Round
• WTO: Global Services Exports Grow 9%

20 October 2011

• Australian Trade Minister Calls for New Approaches to Global Trade Liberalization

13 October 2011

• U.S. Business Groups Hail Passage of FTAs with Korea, Colombia, Panama
• Global Trade in Services: Fear, Facts, and Offshoring
• Malaysia's 2012 Budget Outlines Service Sector Liberalization

3 October 2011

• CSI welcomes White House's decision to submit to Congress the pending U.S. free trade agreements
• 72% of Asia Pacific Opinion Leaders favour plurilateral negotiations on services
• PECC General Meeting Panelists Call for New Ways Forward on Services   
• Business Representatives Urge APEC Officials, at San Francisco Meetings, to Focus More on Services
  

8 September 2011

• WTO Report on Trade-Related Developments
• Lamy Remarks in Delhi
• UNCTAD Trade and Development Report 2011
• USITC Releases Report on U.S. Services Investment Abroad and U.S. Jobs

21 July 2011

• Global Services Coalition Communiqué, Washington DC 21 July 2011

17 June 2011

• PECC/ADBI Conference "Trade in Services: New Challenges for the 21st century" presentations now available online
• Minister Chen Deming's remarks to 3rd China Trade in Services Congress 
• Global Services Summit 2011: Engaging the Dynamic Asian Economies, July 20, 2011 

6 June 2011

• Global Services Coalition calls for a start to plurilateral services negotiations at meeting in Hong Kong.

24 May 2011

• Services: The Main Source of Growth in Poor Countries
• G20 Monitoring Report: Protectionist Pressures Increasing
• APEC Trade Ministers Statement on Doha Round

 

For other recent updates, click here.

25 April 2012: GSC Media Release GSC applauds the Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organisation (TAG-Org) on hosting a Global Services Forum as a pre-event under the auspices of UNCTAD XIII in Doha. Read the full press release here.

 

Global Services Statistics Services accounted for 67% of GDP worldwide in 2009 In 2009, Commercial Services exports totalled $3.78 trillion, or 24.3% of total world exports Leading services exporters include the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, China and Japan According to a 2009 International Labor Organization report, more individuals are employed in the services sector than either agriculture or industry. Sources: World Trade Organization, ILO Global Employment Trends

New Paper: "Services Trade Liberalization as a Foundation of Global Recovery" CSI releases a new study by noted trade economist Edward Gresser, Director of the Progressive Economy Project at the Global Works Foundation. The study, entitled “Services Trade Liberalization as a Foundation of Global Recovery”, makes a powerful case that services trade reform can help strengthen the fragile rebound from the economic crisis, and long-term growth.  Executive Summary Full copy

Important News Updates

February 2012 Book: "Approaches for the 21st Century"

November 2011 Presentation: "Understanding Services at the Heart of a Competitive Economy"

October 2011 Text: "Understanding Services at the Heart of a Competitive Economy"

Global Services Summit, Washington, DC, CSI and its partner organizations in the Global Services Coalition are organizing the 2012 Global Services Summit. The event, to be held September 19 at the Grand Hyatt in Washington, DC looks to follow the success of last year's Summit. For more information, click here

Total World Services Exports, 1980-2010

 

HIGHLIGHTS
Global Services Summit: Engaging the Dynamic Asian Economies
20 July 2011

U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, Mexican Secretary of the Economy Bruno Ferrari, Japan State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Takahashi, and former U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab were among the featured speakers at the July 20, 2011 Global Services Summit.  The Summit focused on the Asia region, and efforts by countries around the world to enhance trade and investment ties with the region.  The Summit also explored in depth the “21st Century” issues that are increasingly posing challenges to services providers.  These include state-owned/assisted enterprises, data flows, forced localization, and enhancing the global value chain.  For highlights from the Summit, click here: http://uscsi.org/about-csi/global-services-summit-2011.