DAVOS 2024: Frictionless Services

The services sector generates two-thirds of global GDP and over half of all jobs, yet trade in services costs twice that of trade in goods, with 40 per cent of these costs due to opaque and outdated regulations. Recent landmark agreements including the WTO Reference Paper on Services Domestic Regulation and the AfCFTA Protocol on Trade in Services are now coming into effect and giving much-needed impetus to global efforts to reduce restrictions in the sector. How can we reform outdated restrictions and build back trust in the services economy?