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Last Updated: Feb 2, 2012 - 7:33:47 PM |
The
Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José
Miguel Insulza, participated today in the launch of the book, "Exporting
Services: A Developing Country Perspective," published by the World
Bank, an event in which he remarked on the remarkable growth of the
services sector in Latin America in the past two decades.
During
the event, held at the headquarters of the World Bank in Washington, DC,
the head of the hemispheric organization recalled that Latin America
experienced 150 percent growth in the services sector in the decade of
the 90s and 200 percent in the 2000s. "That is really a very impressive
performance," he said. "It's the highest performance percentage wise all
over the developing world."
He further noted that exports of
services have increased "in a dynamic manner" in the region, having
grown by seven percent between 1990 and 2000 and 14 percent during the
first decade of the century.
In this context, he remarked that
"many times there is not enough appreciation for the fact that services
are a key to economic growth in developing countries because they are
inputs in all economic activities," adding that the services sector
"constitutes a large percentage of the value added of exports of both
agricultural and manufacturing final products," and as such plays "a
really important role in improving the competitiveness of all economic
activities."
Insulza also asserted that this new publication by
the World Bank "shows there are many opportunities for developing
countries to engage in the services trade," and recalled that "almost
all countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have signed bilateral
and regional trade agreements that do cover services," and many of them
are part of multilateral agreements. "What is very useful in the case
studies is the emphasis and the importance of the right kind of
regulatory framework to allow for the growth of efficient services
industry," he concluded.
The head of the OAS was accompanied in
the presentation panel by Kimberly Ann Elliot, Senior Fellow at the
Center for Global Development, and by the editors of the book: Arti
Grover Goswami, Aaditya Mattoo, and Sebastian Saez. The event was
moderated by Otaviano Canuto, Vice President and Head of Network,
Poverty Reduction and Economic Management at the World Bank.
The
new book illustrates the determinants of trade in services from
developing countries and demonstrates the complex nature of reforms and
policy making in the service sector, as well as the benefits of
well-implemented reforms.
A gallery of photos of the event is available here.
For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.
© Copyright 2012 by thebahamasweekly.com
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