Services
Telecommunications reform in China: Fostering competition through state intervention
As in many developing countries the telecommunications services sector in China has for a long time been monopolized by the state through the Ministry of Post and Telecommunication (MPT). Established in 1949 the MPT is not only the regulator of telecommunications services but also the sole owner and operator. Not surprisingly such monopoly has resulted in the slow growth of the sector. However such slow growth did not cause major problems in the first thirty years following the founding of the People’s Republic of China because there was little mobility among the population thus little need for long-distance communication. During this period the telephone was an exclusive luxury available mostly to the government and the military.
Prólogo del Director General de la OMC
En general los servicios no se tienen suficientemente en cuenta en los debates sobre el comercio mundial aunque representan la mayor parte del comercio en muchas economías desarrolladas y están creciendo con rapidez en numerosas economías en desarrollo. Esa menor atención se debe tal vez a que los servicios son menos tangibles y las cuestiones relacionadas con el comercio de servicios suelen ser más complejas. Por ello el presente Informe trata de desmitificar el comercio de servicios. Su objetivo es arrojar nueva luz sobre esa parte esencial del comercio mundial ofrecer una descripción detallada del comercio de servicios en la actualidad y examinar de qué forma podría evolucionar en los próximos años sobre todo a medida que las nuevas tecnologías hacen que algunos servicios sean cada vez más comerciables.
Introduction
Les services sont devenus le secteur le plus dynamique du commerce mondial – mais d’une manière qui n’est pas toujours reconnue ou comprise. Non seulement ils dominent aujourd’hui de nombreuses économies nationales mais ils jouent aussi un rôle plus important dans l’économie mondiale. Cela s’explique par de nombreux facteurs – dont la consommation la libéralisation et l’investissement – mais c’est la technologie qui a changé la donne. Les services qui étaient autrefois difficiles à échanger du fait qu’ils ne pouvaient être fournis qu’en personne deviennent de plus en plus faciles à échanger car ils peuvent être fournis numériquement. Le Rapport sur le commerce mondial 2019 examine cette mondialisation des services – les raisons pour lesquelles elle se produit son incidence sur les économies et les domaines dans lesquels de nouvelles approches politiques sont nécessaires.
Services trade and growth
One of the stylized facts of economic development is that the share of services in GDP and employment rises as per capita income increases. In the lowest-income countries services generate some 35 percent of GDP. This rises to over 70 percent of national income and employment in OECD countries. The expansion in the services intensity of economies is driven by a number of factors. Standard explanations revolve around both demand- and supply-side factors including income elasticities of demand for services that exceed one limited scope for labor productivity improvements in the supply of consumer (final product) services and the rise in demand for coordination and intermediation services associated with structural change (e.g. the shift out of subsistence agriculture urbanization changes in business practices) and the expansion of the extent of the market as well as incentives for firms and government bodies to spin off service activities to specialized providers (outsourcing). Advances in information and communication technologies (ICT) are increasingly permitting cross-border – disembodied – trade in labor-intensive services accelerating the growth of services activities.
Avant-propos du Directeur général
Le commerce est parfois perçu comme une activité économique qui favorise uniquement les grandes entreprises. Il est indéniablement plus coûteux et plus difficile pour les micro petites et moyennes entreprises de faire du commerce au niveau international. Plus les entreprises sont petites plus les obstacles peuvent paraître grands.
SMEs in international trade: Stylized facts
Every firm that contemplates expanding its operations in a foreign country has to choose a specific market entry strategy. As trade is the most common form of internationalization for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) this section surveys available statistical evidence on the participation of SMEs in international trade in both developed and developing economies and how their activities relate to traditional trade flows and to trade in the context of global value chains. The objective is to provide an accurate and detailed description of the SME trade landscape but also to identify important gaps in information and data coverage.