WTO Services Bodies Focus on Digital Payments, Lower Remittance Costs and
Developing Countries’ Participation in Services Trade
At meetings held from 7 to 9 October, the WTO Council for Trade in Services
and the Committee on Trade in Financial Services commended the fruitful discussions
on services trade at the 2026 Public Forum, continued discussions on transparency
of measures regarding recognition of foreign service suppliers' qualifications,
and exchanged views on how to reinvigorate the Council's work. Members also addressed
how to facilitate digital payment systems and reduce the cost of remittances, help
least-developed countries (LDCs) strengthen their participation in services trade,
and various trade concerns.
·
The
WTO Council for Trade in Services (CTS) and Committee on Trade in Financial Services
(CTFS) met from 7 to 9 October 2026 to discuss services trade, digitalisation, development challenges and regulatory cooperation.
·
Members
explored ways to strengthen the Council’s work, including digitally delivered services,
artificial intelligence (AI), export competitiveness, green services and recognition
of foreign professional qualifications.
·
Least-developed
countries (LDCs) called for greater awareness of the LDC Services Waiver, improved
preferential treatment, easier visa and work-permit procedures, and better recognition
of professional qualifications to expand their participation in global services
trade.
·
Members
discussed improving transparency in the recognition of foreign service suppliers’
qualifications under Article VII of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS).
·
The
2026 WTO Public Forum highlighted the growing importance of services in global trade,
particularly digitally delivered services and services value chains.
·
The
WTO’s Trade in Services for Development (TS4D) initiative continued to support developing
countries through capacity-building, technical assistance and regional cooperation.
·
The
CTFS discussed facilitating cross-border digital payments, improving interoperability
between payment systems and reducing remittance costs to support sustainable development.
·
Members
considered studies on the factors driving high remittance costs and the need for
stronger payment infrastructure, digitalisation and regulatory
cooperation in developing economies.
·
Australia,
Mexico, the Philippines and the United Kingdom shared measures to improve access
to finance for women-led micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).
·
Experts
highlighted the growing role of services in global value chains, while warning that
automation, AI, inequality and market concentration pose challenges. They stressed
that manufacturing and services should complement each other in development strategies.
·
The
meetings also addressed specific trade concerns involving cybersecurity measures,
US services measures, India’s measures affecting mobile applications and certain
European Union measures.
[ABS News Service/14.10.2026]
Ambassador Goosen, Chair of the
Council for Trade in Services, reported on her consultations on how to reinvigorate
the Council's work on trade in services in line with ministerial guidance. Suggested
topics for future engagement include the services aspects of electronic commerce,
such as digitally delivered services trade and the impact of artificial intelligence
(AI) on trade in services, export competitiveness in the services sector, implementation
of the disciplines on services domestic regulation, recognition of foreign service
suppliers' professional qualifications, green services and transparency, she said.
Many members called for development
issues to permeate all discussions, she added. Members also recognized the useful
exchanges the Council had in past thematic sessions and broadly supported engaging
in similar informal exercises.
The Chair encouraged members
to continue exchanging views, identify areas of common interest and submit written
proposals for further deliberations.
The discussion on the operationalisation
of the LDC Services Waiver was informed by members' discussions at previous Council
meetings on intelligence gathered on the experiences of LDC service suppliers in
accessing foreign markets and making use of the preferences in favour of LDC services
and service suppliers notified under the LDC Waiver.
Taking stock of the information
shared, LDCs underscored that their service suppliers are active in international
markets and export services across diverse sectors, including information and communication
technologies (ICT), software, business process outsourcing, professional services,
logistics, education, tourism and health. LDC service suppliers export both to developing
and developed economies, they noted.
However, LDCs said that challenges
remain. Increasing the participation of LDCs in global services trade requires,
in their view, greater awareness of the Services Waiver, improved preferential treatment
for LDCs, enhanced regulatory cooperation, greater recognition of the qualifications
of their service suppliers, and streamlined approval processes for visas and work
permits.
Members expressed willingness
to continue supporting the LDC Group's efforts, while also noting that fostering
greater LDC participation in services trade requires taking a broader approach that
goes beyond just the Waiver.
A CTS workshop on notifications
of recognition measures under General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) Article
VII and related database tools took place on 7 October 2026. At the request of the
co-sponsors of the event - Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and the Kyrgyz Republic
- an item was added to the Council's agenda to provide members with the opportunity
to share their reflections about the workshop.
At the CTS meeting, the co-sponsors
identified a number of information shortcomings regarding recognition measures and
put forward possible remedies, mindful of the need for solutions to be practical
and flexible while being not burdensome and attentive to the differences in members'
regulatory systems. Other members welcomed the information shared at the workshop
and indicated readiness to continue engaging on the issue. One member cautioned
that Article VII did not need to be further operationalised.
Members exchanged views on the
key takeaways from the 2026 WTO Public Forum, which covered a wide range of topics
related to services trade.
Members welcomed the launch of
the new edition of the World Trade Report at the Forum, which provides evidence
on the growing importance of services in total global trade, highlighting the rapid
expansion of digitally delivered services and the importance of services value chains.
Many members shared the key findings
from the various sessions they organized and participated in during the event. They
welcomed the opportunity to hear perspectives from business, civil society, other
international organizations and the general public, noting that the diversity of
views from different stakeholders contributed to more informed discussions at the
WTO.
Members also highlighted the
topics they found of particular interest. These included many of the areas for possible
future CTS work raised during the Chair consultations, as well as other issues,
such as the development of services technical standards, particularly in the digital
sphere, interoperability of regulatory measures and competition in the digital economy.
The Philippines briefed members
on the first regional conference of the TS4D initiative held on 28-29 September
in Manila, organized by the WTO, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
The WTO Secretariat also outlined
recent and planned activities under the TS4D initiative and invited interested members
to submit requests for training and technical assistance on the use of the TS4D
components.
Members welcomed the TS4D initiative
and its capacity building activities and highlighted the upcoming Aid for Trade
Review later this month as an opportunity to deepen discussions on the development
dimension of services trade.
The Council reviewed several
recurring specific trade concerns, including cybersecurity measures by China and
Viet Nam, certain US services measures, India's measures affecting mobile applications,
and two measures considered by the European Union.
On 8 October, the Committee on
Trade in Financial Services (CTFS) elected Mr Momodou M. Mbenga of The Gambia as
its new Chair. The Committee continued discussions on facilitating cross-border
digital payments and reducing remittance costs. Members also heard about national
measures to improve access to finance for women-led micro, small and medium-sized
enterprises (MSMEs).
Members continued discussions
on the follow-up to the September 2025 thematic session on facilitating digital
payment systems and remittance services (JOB/SERV/CTFS/23). They exchanged views
on possible future topics, including regulatory approaches, trade-related barriers
and the role of WTO rules, digitalization and data governance, and interoperability
among cross-border payment systems. The Chair recognized the importance of the issue
and expressed his readiness to conduct informal consultations with all members.
The Committee also continued
exchanging views on the potential follow-up to the draft Ministerial Declaration
on "Reducing the Cost of Cross-Border Remittances - A Lever for Sustainable
Development" (WT/MIN(26)/W/3/Rev.1), following the
request of Cameroon's Minister of Trade, Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana, the Chair
of the 14th Ministerial Conference, for continued discussions in Geneva.
Looking ahead, co-sponsors proposed
future work, including factual studies on the drivers of high remittance costs and
how those are addressed, and further cooperation with relevant international organizations
to identify the WTO's added value. They also highlighted the need for technical
assistance and capacity-building to strengthen payment infrastructure, digitalization
and regulatory interoperability in developing economies.
Australia, Mexico, the Philippines
and the United Kingdom shared their respective national experiences in policies
aimed at improving women-led businesses' access to finance, drawing on the Compendium
of Financial Inclusion Initiatives and the related database available on the WTO
website: Compendium of Financial Inclusion Initiatives for Women Entrepreneurs.
The compendium was established by the Informal Working Group on MSMEs and the Informal
Working Group on Trade and Gender. Members were encouraged to continue exchanging
information, and Ambassador Matthew Wilson, Coordinator of the Working Group on
MSMEs, announced plans to launch a new initiative on digitalization in December.
At an event held on 8 October,
trade experts from the WTO Secretariat, academia, the Organisation for Economic
Co-operation and Development (OECD) Secretariat as well as WTO members discussed
evolving trends in global value chains (GVCs), with a particular focus on services
and the challenges developing economies face in leveraging services to integrate
into the global economy.
Speakers reaffirmed the critical
role of services in GVCs. Drawing on the data and findings of recent studies, they
highlighted the growing importance of services as a key source of value creation
in manufacturing GVCs, the emergence and expansion of services GVCs, and services
as an increasingly important pathway for developing economies to participate in
GVCs.
Speakers recognized that services-led
development also presents challenges, such as automation and AI replacement, inequalities
and market concentration. They emphasized that industrialization should not be viewed
as a choice between manufacturing and services. Instead, development strategies
should focus on sectors that generate high productivity, quality jobs and trade
opportunities, which are key drivers of long-term growth and prosperity.
The event was organized by the
WTO's Trade in Services and Investment Division as part of the "Simply Services"
speaker series, an informal platform for sharing the latest information on services
trade trends.