Economic growth is necessary for development. The increase in the quantity of resources available to produce and/or distribute is essential in the development process. However, economic growth alone does not guarantee all development objectives. The quality of economic growth matters, and it essential for sustained development that growth involves some form of productivity change and economic transformation.
Trade can be a powerful channel to mobilise resources from low to high productivity sectors and to improve productivity within sectors. The Supporting Economic Transformation (SET) programme has explored the links between trade, trade policy and economic transformation. Trade helps to diversify production, discover and develop new productive capabilities and increase domestic value added. Services are becoming increasingly important in world trade and SET has focused on the role of services in economic transformation.
The aim of this workshop is to examine the links between trade (in services) and economic transformation. How have countries been successful in using trade for economic transformation? How can we analyse what sectors are promising for economic transformation? How does services trade affect manufacturing and agriculture development? What are the implications for trade policy?
Agenda for WTO Ministerial Conference
17 December 2015, 11:00-12:30, Hilton Hotel, Nairobi, Kenya
Chair
Dirk Willem te Velde – Senior Research Fellow, ODI – Director, SET
Speakers
Chris Barton – Director of International Affairs, Trade Policy & Export Control (ITEC), UK’s Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS)
Max Mendez-Parra – Research Fellow, ODI/SET
Arancha Gonzalez – Executive Director, ITC
Bernard Hoekman – Director of Global Economics, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies
Frank Matsaert – Chief Executive Officer, TradeMark East Africa
Event page on TDS/ICTSD website can be found here.
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