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Global Services Summit Communiqué
Washington DC 21 July 2011

The Global Services Coalition includes:
  • Australian Services Roundtable
  • Canadian Services Coalition
  • Coalition of Service Industries Malaysia
  • Coalition of Service Industries (U.S.)
  • European Services Forum
  • Hong Kong Coalition of Service Industries
  • Japan Services Network
  • Mexican Services Coalition
  • NASSCOM
  • Taiwan Coalition of Services Industries
  • TheCityUK (United Kingdom)

Representatives of organizations comprising the Global Services Coalition (GSC) met on July 21, in the aftermath of the third Global Services Summit on July 20, in Washington, DC.

The third Global Services Summit on "Jobs, Growth and Development: Engaging the Dynamic Asian Economies" concentrated mainly on means of expanding markets in that region, on the role of China in the region, and on the "21st Century Issues" that have emerged in the last several years as major issues of concern to global businesses serving customers worldwide.

These "21st Century Issues" discussed at the Summit included avoidance of restrictions on cross-border data-transfer and data-storage, sound and clear rules on the role of state-owned and state-linked enterprises in competitive markets, acceptance that discriminatory and unreasonable localization requirements on global business activities are to be avoided, and the need to improve the supply chain through trade facilitation and more efficient logistics services.

The Global Services Summit also discussed multilateral, plurilateral, regional, bilateral and other frameworks for taking forward international initiatives to open services and investment markets. GSC members recognized the critical importance of advancing these objectives, while underlining their support for the multilateral trading regime and the work of the World Trade Organization.

The services sector now accounts for the bulk of GDP in most of the world's economies. It is a key to growth, development and employment. But trade in services remains relatively low, hindered by trade barriers. The GSC called upon global economic policymakers to give fresh impetus to liberalisation and market-opening for the world's services industries. At a time of severe economic uncertainty, the prospects for global economic growth are being damaged by persistent restrictions on trade and investment in services, and lack of transparency, efficiency and predictability in services regulation. These need to be tackled urgently and resolutely.

The Global Services Coalition represents businesses that form the bedrock for economic growth. The Coalition's members are committed to working with all governments to bring about far-reaching market-opening and a regulatory reform agenda that will enhance services productivity and grow the global services economy worldwide.


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