A regular meeting of the Special Session of the WTO Committee on Trade in Services chaired by Kazakhstan was held, El.kz cites MFA.
The Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan to the WTO and International Economic Organizations, Zhanar Aitzhan informed the participants about the results of the consultations she held in her capacity as chair of the Special Session with individual delegations and groups representing about 100 WTO members from October 2022 to March 2023.
The purpose of this meeting was to discuss and exchange views on the work of the Special Session on the implementation of the outcomes of the 12th Ministerial Conference (MC-12) in the context of trade in services. In this regard, the Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan noted that during the MC-12, ministers agreed to strengthen and increase the participation of developing countries, including the least developed countries, in the work of the WTO on services.
Delegations of WTO members discussed the issue of resuming discussions on the service sectors in the field of environment, logistics, tourism and agriculture. Delegations also expressed their readiness to share best practices and experience on how the commitments made by countries to liberalize market access for services under the WTO contribute to economic recovery in the post-pandemic period.
During the meeting, the representative of China invited countries to share their experience in liberalizing service sectors at the national level and establishing preferential treatment for trade in services under regional trade agreements.
The delegations of Singapore, Thailand, Canada, the EU, Brazil and Russia supported the continuation of the Special Session in the form of information sessions, and also noted that they were ready to share their experience with countries in terms of regional trade agreements and national measures to liberalize the services sector.