ldc services: geneva practitioners seminar...laura páez wto building, room b 26 february 2015 ldc...
TRANSCRIPT
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Laura Páez
WTO Building, Room B
26 February 2015
LDC Services: Geneva Practitioners Seminar
Series: “Making Sense of GATS and Applying
Good Practices in Services Negotiations”
Seminar 2: “Key Sectoral Issues and Domestic Regulation”
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Geneva Practitioner's Seminar Series: Key Sectoral Negotiating Issues and Domestic Regulation, ITC, 26 February 2015
Geneva Practitioner's Seminar Series:
Key Sectoral Negotiating Issues
and Domestic Regulation
26 February 2015
Presented by Laura Páez
Africa Section, Research and Policy Analysis Branch
Division for Africa, Least Developed Countries and Special Programmes
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
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Geneva Practitioner's Seminar Series: Key Sectoral Negotiating Issues and Domestic Regulation, ITC, 26 February 2015
OUTLINE
• Introduction
• Mapping African GATS Liberalization Commitments
• Africa's Financial Services Liberalization Commitments
• The LDC Waiver and what it means for LDCs
• Conclusions & Recommendations
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Geneva Practitioner's Seminar Series: Key Sectoral Negotiating Issues and Domestic Regulation, ITC, 26 February 2015
Mapping African GATS Liberalization Commitments
• 42 African countries have undertaken substantial
liberalization commitments under the GATS. Of these 25
are LDCs
• There is a high level of variability across these
commitments in terms of sectoral coverage, scope and
depth
• 9 African countries are not part of the WTO and are either in
the process of accession, have observer status or have yet
to define whether they want to form part of the MTS
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Geneva Practitioner's Seminar Series: Key Sectoral Negotiating Issues and Domestic Regulation, ITC, 26 February 2015
Mapping African GATS Liberalization Commitments
An
go
la
Be
nin
Bo
tsw
an
a
Bu
rkin
a F
aso
Bu
run
di
Cam
ero
on
Cap
e V
erd
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Cen
tra
l A
fric
an
Rep
.
Cha
d
Con
go
Côte
d’Ivo
ire
DR
C
Djib
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Eg
yp
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Ga
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Ga
mb
ia
Gh
an
a
Gu
ine
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a B
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Ke
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Le
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Ma
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r
Ma
law
i
Ma
li
Ma
uri
tan
ia
Ma
uri
tiu
s
Mo
rocco
Mo
za
mb
iqu
e
Nam
ibia
Nig
er
Nig
eri
a
Rw
an
da
Se
ne
ga
l
Sie
rra
Le
on
e
So
uth
Afr
ica
Sw
azila
nd
To
go
Tu
nis
ia
Uga
nd
a
Ta
nza
nia
Za
mb
ia
Zim
ba
bw
e
Horizontal Commitments
Sectoral Commitments
Business services
Communication services
Construction and related
Distribution services
Educational services
Environmental services
Financial services
Health related and social services
Tourism & travel
Recreational, cultural & sporting
Transport services
Other services not included elsewhere
MFN exemptions
Cross Sectoral
Business services
Communication services
Construction and related
Distribution services
Educational services
Environmental services
Financial services
Health related and social services
Tourism & travel
Recreational, cultural & sporting
Transport services
Other services not included elsewhere
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Geneva Practitioner's Seminar Series: Key Sectoral Negotiating Issues and Domestic Regulation, ITC, 26 February 2015
Africa's Financial Services Liberalization in the GATS
• Financial Services belongs among the top committed
services categories in African schedules. A total of 20
countries have made commitments for this sector
• As with other GATS commitments, there is a high level of
variability in terms of sectoral coverage, scope and depth
• Most commitments, however, focus on restrictions
pertaining to mode 3 and mode 4
• Few countries with commitments in this sector have MFN
exemptions that sufficiently reflect regional integration and
prudential regulation priorities
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Geneva Practitioner's Seminar Series: Key Sectoral Negotiating Issues and Domestic Regulation, ITC, 26 February 2015
Africa's Financial Services Liberalization in the GATS
Angola
Benin
Bots
wana
Burk
ina F
aso
Buru
ndi
Cam
ero
on
Cape V
erd
e
Centr
al A
fric
an R
ep.
Chad
Congo
Côte
d’Ivoire
DR
C
Djib
outi
Egyp
t
Gabon
Gam
bia
Ghana
Guin
ea
Guin
ea
Bis
sau
Kenya
Lesoth
o
Madagascar
Mala
wi
Mali
Maurita
nia
Mauritius
Moro
cco
Mozam
biq
ue
Nam
ibia
Nig
er
Nig
eria
Rw
anda
Senegal
Sie
rra L
eone
South
Afr
ica
Sw
azila
nd
Togo
Tunis
ia
Uganda
Tanzania
Zam
bia
Zim
babw
e
Horizontal Commitments
affecting Financial Services
Sectoral Commitments
on Financial Services
Banking & other Financial
Services Excluding Insurance
Insurance Services
MFN exemptions
Affecting Financial Services
All sectors covered
Exclusive to Financial Services
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Geneva Practitioner's Seminar Series: Key Sectoral Negotiating Issues and Domestic Regulation, ITC, 26 February 2015
Africa's Financial Services Liberalization in the GATS
Country Admission/
authorization/
licensing or
notification
requirements
Limitations
on form/
amount or
control of FDI
Limitations to
participating
in M&As/
Privatization
Limitations
on the lease/
purchase of
real estate
Limitations
on subsidies/
tax write-offs/
transfers/
preferential
treatment
Establishmen
t approval/
registration
or residency
requirements
Qualification/
skills or
employment
requirements
Limitations
on the
category/
function of
employees
Limitations
on the
duration of
stay¹
Economic
needs/ social
benefit or
labour
market tests
Angola MA 3) MA 3)
Benin MA 3) MA 3) MA 3) MA 4) MA 4) MA 4)
Cabo Verde MA 3) MA 4) MA 4) MA 4)
Cote d'Ivoire MA 3) MA 3) MA 4)
Egypt MA 3), NT 3) MA 3) MA 4) MA 3), NT 3)
Gabon MA 3) MA* 4) MA* 4)
Gambia MA 3) MA 4) MA 3), *4) MA* 4) MA* 4)
Ghana MA 3) NT 3) MA 4) MA 4) MA 4) MA 4)
Kenya MA 3) MA 3) MA 3) MA 4) MA 4)
Lesotho MA 3) MA 3) MA 3) MA 4) MA 4) MA 4) MA 4)
Malawi MA * 4) MA* 4) MA* 4)
Mauritius MA 3) MA 3) MA 3) MA* 4) MA* 4)
Morocco MA 4) MA 4) MA 4) MA 4) MA 4)
Mozambique MA 4)
Nigeria MA 3) MA* 4) MA* 4) MA* 4)
Senegal MA 3) MA 3)
Sierra Leone NT 3) MA 3) MA 3) MA* 4) MA* 4) MA 4)
South Africa MA 3) MA 3) MA 3) MA 3), NT 3) MA * 4) MA* 4) MA* 4)
Tunisia MA 3), NT 3) MA 3) MA 3) MA 4), NT 3) MA 4), NT 3)
Zimbabwe MA 3) MA 3) MA 3) MA* 4) MA* 4) MA* 4)
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Geneva Practitioner's Seminar Series: Key Sectoral Negotiating Issues and Domestic Regulation, ITC, 26 February 2015
Africa's Financial Services Liberalization in the GATS Africa: financial services trade restrictions index (STRI) scores, 2012
Source: UNCTAD calculations based on Borchert et al. (2012) 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90
Lesotho
EU-20
Zambia
Mauritius
Morocco
Cote d'Ivoire
Senegal
Mali
Mozambique
Rwanda
South Africa
Cameroon
Tanzania
Kenya
Ghana
Nigeria
Africa
Namibia
Uganda
Botswana
Madagascar
Tunisia
Malawi
Algeria
Burundi
Congo, D. R.
Egypt
Zimbabwe
Ethiopia
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Geneva Practitioner's Seminar Series: Key Sectoral Negotiating Issues and Domestic Regulation, ITC, 26 February 2015
The LDC Waiver and What it means for African LDCs
• The LDC Waiver represents an opportunity for the LDC
group, including 34 African countries to have market access
for mode 4 service suppliers.
• If operationalized properly and in a timely manner, it would
represent an "early harvest".
• An important number of countries have already made offers
that are being discussed
• Critical to the operationalization are what standards will be
used for accreditation and recognition of certificates and
degrees, as well licensing requirements
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Geneva Practitioner's Seminar Series: Key Sectoral Negotiating Issues and Domestic Regulation, ITC, 26 February 2015
Conclusions and Recommendations
• African countries have made substantial commitments
under the GATS. This not only binds the status quo and
locks in future liberalization, it also constrains policy space
• In addition to negotiating more aggressively in GATS
negotiations, African countries must also be more vocal
about their position, table proposals for greater flexibility in
the application and interpretation of rules
• The waiver represents an unparalleled opportunity for
LDCs. Moving forward LDCs will need to push for clear
criteria and ensure that the opportunities are widely
disseminated and made accessible to mode 4 service
suppliers
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Geneva Practitioner's Seminar Series: Key Sectoral Negotiating Issues and Domestic Regulation, ITC, 26 February 2015
Thank you!
E-mail : [email protected]
http://unctad.org