Services in Doha: What's on the Table?

Posted: 20 Apr 2016

See all articles by Batshur Gootiiz

Batshur Gootiiz

World Bank

Aaditya Mattoo

World Bank - Development Research Group (DECRG)

Date Written: April 1, 2009

Abstract

Services trade reform matters, but what is Doha doing about it? It has been hard to judge, because of the opaqueness of services policies and the opaqueness of the request-offer negotiating process. This paper attempts to assess what is on the table. It presents the results of the first survey of applied trade policies in the major services sectors of 56 industrial and developing countries. These policies are then compared with these countries' Uruguay Round commitments in services and the best offers that they have made in the current Doha negotiations. The paper finds that at this stage, Doha promises greater security of access to markets but not any additional liberalization. Uruguay Round commitments are on average 2.3 times more restrictive than current policies. The best offers submitted so far as part of the Doha negotiations improve on Uruguay Round commitments by about 13 percent but remain on average 1.9 times more restrictive than actual policies. The World Trade Organization's Hong Kong Ministerial had set out ambitious goals for services but the analysis here shows that much remains to be done to achieve them.

Keywords: Transport Economics Policy & Planning, Public Sector Corruption & Anticorruption Measures, Corruption & Anitcorruption Law, Trade and Services, Emerging Markets

Suggested Citation

Gootiiz, Batshur and Mattoo, Aaditya, Services in Doha: What's on the Table? (April 1, 2009). World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 4903, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1401209

Batshur Gootiiz (Contact Author)

World Bank ( email )

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Washington, DC 20433
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Aaditya Mattoo

World Bank - Development Research Group (DECRG) ( email )

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Room MC 3-327
Washington, DC 20433
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202-676-9810 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://econ.worldbank.org/staff/amattoo