Services 2000

Conference on the Future of Services Trade Liberalisation

General

1.    The Conference was organised by the USCSI in conjunction with British Invisibles (the British counterpart of the CSIs). The purpose was to prepare for the next round of negotiations on liberalisation of trade in services which the WTO has mandated for the year 2000.

2.    The Conference was chaired by Dr Jaime Serra, former Trade Minister of Mexico. Dr Serra was the author of the first draft of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS).

3.    A total of 42 participated in the Conference including representatives from the following countries and organisations:

4. There were altogether five discussion sessions on the following themes:

	Assessing the record of liberalisation
	The negotiating framework: GATS architecture and regulatory reform
	Sector snapshots: Financial services, telecom, professional services, transport and IT
	Parallel paths toliberalisation
	Challenges and opportunities: privacy, Transatlantic Marketplace, China accession

5. Each session started off with presentations by a panel of two to five experts. The emphasis of the Conference was on discussion and dialogue so the presentations wereall very short. Participants had been very enthusiastic in the discussion.

6. Participation in the Conference was regarded as very high-level, including such names as Chairman of British Invisibles Lord Douglas Hurd, Chairman of Barclays Bank Andrew Buxton, Ambassador Jeff Lang from the USTR, Dr Rodolfo Martinez from Argentina, etc. The following three participants came from Asia:

	Dr W.K. Chan, Secretary General, HKCSI
	Mamoru Takahashi, Fuji Research Institute
	Akira Yamada, Chief Negotiator in Trade and Services, Japan Ministry of Foreign Affairs

7. It was agreed to form a “Global Services Network” (GSN) to act as an international focal point for private sector efforts in liberalisation of trade in services. The decision to form the GSN followed a dinner meeting among the following representatives of CSIs and related organisations:        

8. The GSN will initially be a “virtual” network and will communicate electronically through a Website to be established by the USCSI. The core of the GSN will be made up of CSIs and related bodies but all service industries will be welcomed to join the GSN.

9. Participants also agreed to issue a statement and hold a press conference on the result of the Ditchley Conference. The press statement was drafted by a group comprising the following:

10. The Press Conference was held on Monday 27 April at the City Corporation. Twenty-three media representatives attended. The panel for the press conference consisted of the following:

11. Another proposal put forward during the Conference by the USCSI was to hold a “World Services Congress” in November 1999 in Atlanta. The Congress will include a programme of conferences and seminars as well as an exhibition. The USCSI was keen to make the event a big success. Other CSIs supported the concept but most were not yet in a position to commit to any substantive involvement yet.

12. The Ditchley Conference has been very substantive and has once again established the CSI network as the most influential global forum for input into multilateral policy on services.

13. The establishment of the Global Services Network had been a major breakthrough for the international CSIs. It is expected to improve communication among CSIs considerably. One of the immediate tasks for the GSN, for instance, is the preparation of a submission to the WTO on the Ministerial Conference in May. Another paper might be submitted in response to the Minsiterial, depending on the outcome of the Geneva Conference.

14. The HKCSI has registered for attendance at the WTO ministerial conference in May in Geneva. However, the impression from the Ditchley Conference is that the Geneva event would probably not be as substantive as the Singapore Conference in December 1996. It is therefore felt that attendance in the Geneva Conference might, although beneficial, not be a necessity for the HKCSI.

15. As part of the global constituency building exercise, the HKCSI will be launching its own study in preparing for Services 2000, together with City University. Funding is currently being sought from the government Services Support Fund. Tt is felt that this will continue to establish the HKCSI as the leading private sector body in Asia in contributing to multilateral trade policy in services.

16. The following papers were presented during the Conference:

	Reflections on Regionalism: Report of the study group on international trade (Chairman: Jaime Serra)
	Regionalism (Jaime Serra)
	A review of issues in the GATS negotiations – for lobbyists (Julian Arkell)
	PBEC International Working Committee on Services – Financial Services Liberalisation and Regulatory Reform in the Asia Pacific
	Setting the Agenda for Services 2000 (Geza Feketekuty)
	The Requirements of the GATS Reference Paper (AT&T)
	Privacy of Information – Suggestions from UDES (Dr Rodolfo Martinez)

17. The Conference conclusion was summarised in a statement entitled “Global Services Network formed; Services 2000 Issues Agreed”.

18. The following two reports on the Conference were compiled by Dr WK Chan:

	A very English Conference – Preparing for Services 2000
	Services 2000 – Conference Notes