18 December 2013- Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for International Economic Relations Laura Q. Del Rosario shared her views on services in the Philippine setting with an Asian perspective during the session, "Services: Revitalising the WTO Post-Bali," at the Bali Trade and Development Symposium which was held on the sidelines of the World Trade Organization (WTO) 9th Ministerial Meeting on December 05 in Bali, Indonesia.

Undersecretary del Rosario highlighted the importance of the services sector to the Philippine economy which accounts for 54 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), positively contributing to the country's development and job generation agenda. She raised questions on how the global market on services can be inclusive and competitive for developing economies, where negotiations can only succeed on the foundations of trust. She provoked a rethinking of services, the need for a vision, and a holistic framework and approach to it.

Gathering experts and practitioners in the field of services, the session examined the new negotiating initiatives on services and the lessons to be learned from preferential trading agreements and the mega-regional discussions for the WTO, including implications of the ongoing negotiations on the Trade in International Services Agreement (TISA) and where they may be leading the trading system. It sought to brainstorm on how recent initiatives in services may help to revitalise the WTO services agenda post-Bali, and looked into regional perspectives particularly in Asia, Europe, Africa and Latin America.

The session speakers included Sherry Stephenson of the International Center for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD), Pierre Sauve of the World Trade Institute (WTI), University of Bern, Thomas Harris of the Standard Chartered Bank and the European Services Roundtable, Fabien Gehl of the European Commission and  Anabel Gonzalez, Minister of Foreign Trade of Costa Rica.

The session was organized by the ICTSD and attended by an international audience from the public and private sectors, including the academe, policy think tanks and non-government organizations. END