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 for the liberalisation of international services trade through
multilateral negotiations under the auspices of the
World Trade Organisation (WTO). Read more at About GSN.

Recent Updates

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 3, 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

2 May 2011

• Lamy Addresses TNC on Doha Round Impasse
• U.S. Business Community Statement on the Doha Round

22 April 2011

• WTO Releases Reports from Negotiating Chairs

19 April 2011

• WTO: World Services Trade Sees 8% Growth in 2010
• EU Sets out Strategy for Promoting Economic Growth Through Trade
• Global Services Summit 2011: Engaging the Dynamic Asian Economies
  

29 March 2011

• Think of Cost of Doha Round Failure, Lamy Urges Members as Deadline Looms
• Ambassador Punke Outlines Wide Gaps Among WTO members
• OECD Working Paper Examines Role of Logistics Services in Facilitating Trade

15 March 2011

• Ambassador Punke: DOHA Negotiators Must Seriously Deepen the Level of Engagement
• Travel and Tourism: Moving Beyond the Downturn
• Obama Administration’s Newly-Released 2011 Trade Agenda

14 February 2011

• Global Trade Opinion Poll on Prospects for Doha Round in 2011
• UK Government Releases Trade & Investment White Paper
• World Trade Statisticians Propose Plans to Improve Trade Data

3 February 2011

• Trade Experts Panel Calls for Binding End-2011 Deadline for Doha Completion
• Lamy Outlines What is Needed To Conclude Doha this Year

For other recent updates, click 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

WITA EVENT RECAP Services Trade and Investment: Unlocking Growth, Recovery, and Jobs, November 29, 2011 Speakers: Deanna OKUN, Chairwoman, International Trade Commission; J. Bradford JENSEN, Peterson Institute for International Economics; Aaditya MATTOO, Lead Economist, Development Research Group, World Bank. Moderator: Bob VASTINE, President, Coalition of Service Industries.

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"

PECC Conference Urges Progress on Services, Washington, DC, September 29, 2011 For more information, click here

Total World Services Exports, 1980-2010

 

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