Organization Konrad Adenauer, Latin American and Caribbean Network for Research in Services (REDLAS) and Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) organized the digital conference “Trade in services: contrasting Africa, Asia and Latin America” in the morning of May 25, 2022. The conference was attended by PhDs in economics, Witada Anukoonwattaka, Geoffroy Guepie and Nanno Mulder.

What is the current state of services trade in Africa, Asia and Latin America?
Can trade in services be a source of economic recovery for the post-pandemic regions of Asia, Africa and Latin America?
Can it be an opportunity to develop economic relations between these regions?

The conference "Trade in services: a contrast between Africa, Asia and Latin America" discussed the different challenges and opportunities for trade in services in the regions, as well possible areas of collaboration to strengthen international trade in the post-pandemic economic recovery between Latin America and Africa. In this digital conference Mr. Nanno Mulder, Chief of the International Trade Unit of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), compared commercial relations in the trade in services among Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia and Africa, and remarked that although there is greater interaction between LAC and Asia compared to LAC and Africa, interregional relations have been stagnant since 2014. The speaker also analyzed the impacts of the pandemic on trade in services, noting the decline in the sector during the pandemic, but also its increasing recovery both in Latin America and the Caribbean, and in the rest of the world in 2021. In addition, Mr Mulder noted the growth of digital services trade since 2020, and explains that the lack of dynamism of this sector in LAC is mainly due to the lack of infrastructure and connectivity, and restrictions linked to limitation on cross-border data flows.

From an asian perspective, Ms. Witada Anukoonwattaka, Senior Economic Affairs Officer from the Trade Policy and Facilitation Section of the Trade and Investment Division (ESCAP) in United Nations, focused her presentation on the Asia-Pacific region, highlighting the rapid recovery of trade in services during the pandemic and the strong presence of China, India, Singapore and Japan in this sector. The speaker pointed to the growth of trade agreements, but also the significant restrictions present in the region compared to the rest of the world. Geoffroy Guepie, Economic Affairs Associate at the African Trade Policy Centre, within the Regional Integration and Trade Division of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), points out that the African region doesn’t have a steady growth in trade in services, with deficits at various times and decreasing during the pandemic. Moreover, the speaker highlighted the lack of interaction between Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean in the trade in services. With regard to digital services, Mr Guepie presents infrastructure as the biggest challenge for the African market, but reveals that the ECA’s Initiative on Regulatory Integration of Digital Trade in Africa aims to improve this sector.   

All the experts exposed the challenges and constraints that prevent the expansion of interregional cooperation and underlined the importance of policies, and agreements, such as Pacific Alliance, and Preferential Trade Arrangement between Asia and Pacific, for the expansion of trade in services. In particular, the current lack of interaction in trade in services between Latin America, Africa and Asia was discussed, where there are some punctual cases such as telehealth processes between Mozambique and Brazil. The development of greater trade between these regions could be a starting point for the diversification of markets and the promotion of economic recovery of the economies in these regions.