RESTRICTED  
  
S/FIN/M/9 9 
 
16 November  2023 
(23-7728) Page: 1/9 
Committee on Trade in Financial Services  Original: English  
 
  
REPORT OF THE MEETING HELD ON 2 OCTOBER  2023 
NOTE BY THE SECRETARIAT1 
The Committee on Trade in Financial Services held a meeting on 2 October  2023, under the 
Chairpersonship of Mr. Gabriel BAUTISTA (Philippines) . The agenda was contained in document 
WTO/AIR/ CTFS/1 6. Prior to the meeting, an annotated agenda had been circulat ed in document 
JOB/SERV/CTFS/ 6.  
No issue was raised under other business and the agenda was adopted .  
1  FINANCIAL SERVICES:  TRADE, INCLUSION AND ACCESSIBILITY - FOLLOW UP TO THE 
THEMATIC SEMINAR  
1.1.  The Chairperson  said that  as a follow -up to the thematic seminar on "Financial Services: Trade, 
Inclusion and Accessibility" held on 14 June 2023, at the last meeting the Committee had had an 
interactive discussion about the issues addressed in the thematic seminar, to identify those that 
would merit a more in -depth discussion by the Committee. He recalled that delegations had been 
invited to, first, share their national experiences and points of view on the issues covered by the 
seminar ; second, outline which of th ose issues could be the subject of further discussion; and third, 
suggest how the Committee could address th ose issues.  
1.2.  The discussion showed a clear interest among Members to deepen discussions on financial 
inclusion and its impact on development and the rea l economy, bearing in mind the role of trade in 
financial services. The Chair recalled that specific recommendations had been  made , in particular, 
to further explore two aspects:  
• First, the impact of digitalization on financial services and how Members co uld better 
leverage digital technologies to promote access to financial services and advance financial 
inclusion domestically and worldwide ; and 
• Second, how domestic regulatory frameworks ha d been adapted to take account of 
innovation and technology in the  context of financial inclusion policies.  
1.3.  In this respect, taking those two broad issues as a basis, the Chair  put forward some initial 
questions for discussion covering the following:  
i. How had digital technologies supported accessibility to financial services and the 
emergence of new ways of supplying financial services?  
ii. What good regulatory practices had been pursued to improve financial inclusion in 
delegations'  jurisdiction s?  
iii. What efforts were being pursued to improve access to financial services, particularly 
for MSMEs and women -led businesses?  
 
1 This document has been prepared under the Secretariat's own responsibility and is without prejudice 
to the positions of Members or to their rights and obligations under the WTO.  S/FIN/M/99  
 
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  iv. What ha d been the impact of financial inclusion strategies and policies on delegations' 
economies , including on economic participation?  
1.4.  Regarding  how to proceed, suggestions had been made at the last meeting , including  the 
organization of thematic sessions on targeted issues where Members could share their national 
experiences.  
1.5.  Building on those suggestions, as indicated in the annotated agenda, and  based on perspectives 
shared by Members at the last CTFS on digitalization of financial services and financial technology, 
the Chair  propose d the organization of a thematic session on Fintech and Financial Inclusion, where 
the aforementioned  questions - as well as those others Members may have - could be used as 
guidance and where Members could share their national experiences.   
1.6.  The Chair sought Members' views on th at suggestion and also invited delegations  to identify 
other relevant issues that might be further explored in this context.  
1.7.  The representative of Egypt  said that at  the previous Committee  meeting , her delegation had  
highlighted the importance of financial inclusion for the Egyptian Government's  sustainable 
development strategy  (2030 vision ). It had  also show n interest in topics on which there could be 
more engagement and sharing of experiences. One of th ose was how developing countries could 
promote and develop the ir Fintech  sector . She welcomed the Chair's suggestion to  hold a thematic 
session  on this topic.  She added a few  potential questions with a view to guiding discussion on the 
issue:  what were the  challenges facing developing countries in advancing their Fintech  sector ?; what 
were the capacity -building  programs and actions taken to support the development of this sector in 
developing and least-developed  countries ?; and h ow could  the WTO contribute effectively to helping 
developing and least -developed countries achieve their des ired development in the context of this 
sector?  The delegate looked forward to further engagement  on th at topic and to hearing  from 
Members about other issues of interest.  
1.8.  The representative of  China  shared the Chair's suggestion that th e topic need ed to be further 
explored.  In response to the guiding questions, the delegate  wished to briefly focus on e-payment  
services . He said that  it was necessary to support the development of effective  and safe payment 
system s by fostering the adoption and use of internationally accepted standards, promoting 
interoperability and the interlink age of payment infrastructure s, and encouraging  useful innovation 
and competition in the payment ecosystem. In that regard, he highlighted  a few principles that China 
was promoting in other negotiations at the WTO but that were also relevant for this discussion. For 
example, there was a  need to encourage Members to make their respective regulations on 
e-payment,  including those pertaining to  regulatory approval, licensing requirements  and 
procedure s, and technical standards , publicly available in a timely manner.  Secondly, Members 
should be encouraged  to take into account  internationally accepted payment standard s to enable 
greater interopera bility between payment systems . The third principle concerned the encouragement 
of Members to promote the use of application programming interface s (API), and to encourage 
financial institutions and electronic payment service suppliers to make APIs availab le to third-party  
players where it was possible to facilitate greater interoperability and innovation in the electronic 
payment ecosystem.  Finally, the implementation of regulation should be proportionate and 
commensurate with the risk posed by the provision of electronic payment system s. 
1.9.  The representative of  Korea  support ed the Chair's proposal on the Fintech seminar, and added 
the following considerations: f irst, considering that Fintech  was also discussed in the previous 
seminar,  it was essential  to avoid content duplication and to strive for differentiation in the topics 
covered in future seminars ; second, in this regard, he hoped to see a detailed presentation by 
specialized research institutions on the current status and future of global Fintec h as well as 
regulatory practices along with content that addresse d how to approach it from a CTFS perspective ; 
third, regarding the timing of the seminar, if India's proposed seminar on cost of  remittance  services 
was to be held, he hoped that the seminars  would  be conducted sequentially.  He emphasize d that 
all seminars should be conducted in a neutral and objective mann er without presupposing any 
specific viewpoint , with the aim of providing Members  with the right to information.  
1.10.  The representative of the Philippines  agree d that the Committe e should continue  exploring 
this topic . The Philippines support ed the Chair's sug gestion to organize a seminar or a dedicated 
experience -sharing  session among Members  to discuss financial technology and financial inclusion.  S/FIN/M/99  
 
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  He noted in that regard that th e Alliance for Financial Inclusion, a leadership alliance led by central 
banks and  financial regulatory authorities in developing countries, convened its Global Policy Forum 
last month in the Philippines and issued the Manila Manifesto, which call ed for enhancing ties with 
relevant international organizations to make financial products and services accessible, safe , and 
affordable to all.  The Manila Manifesto called for engagement with standard -setting bodies and other 
relevant international bodies o n how financial inclusion and considerations could  be further factored 
into the implementation of global standards by engaging in regular dialogue and knowledge 
exchange on global coordination of inclusive regulatory frameworks related to climate risk and 
emerging technologies, as well as harnessing the power of innovation.  He also took note of 
discussions on digital public infrastructure and said that the Philippines was itself pursuing its own 
roadmap underpinned by a national identification system, which  was being integrated through a 
mobile app.  The system was intended to ensure comprehensive coverage, which would  give Filipinos 
the ability to access financial, social protection, health , education , and other government services.  
The digital ID system would help the public and private sectors identify and verify customers, reduce 
fraud, and enable participation in government support programs, such as the digital delivery of cash 
aid. He added that t he Central Bank was also working with the Bankers Associat ion of the Philippines 
to continue waiving transaction fees on small -value transactions.  Digital payments represent ed 
40.1% of all retail payments , and the government expected to reach a 50% ratio by the end of this 
year. He added that the Philippines' regulators were allowing digital banks and mobile wallet 
providers to offer loans, insurance and investment products, including stock trading.  
1.11.  The representative of Australia  addressed  the guiding  questions that the Chair had proposed, 
in two parts  – one bein g digital technologies and financial system architecture and the other b eing 
financial inclusion and regulatory practices to help foster that.  He said that Australia ha d initiated a 
new payment infrastructure called the New Payments Platform to increase and facilitate innovation 
in retail payments.  This platform ha d enabled more transactions to be made with a more data -rich 
form and to provide services such as pay ID , which enable d individual user accounts to carry more 
data, and a pay -to system with the aim of enhancing  consumer and business interactions.  Further 
to that, Australia also introduced a "consumer data right ", giving consumers the ability to safely and 
securel y access and share data created about them through their interactions with financial services 
providers , which c ould help drive innovation in a consumer -focused way. As a result, there had been 
a significant increase in online transactions, and 13 million pay IDs ha d been created under the New 
Payments Platform , which represented roughly 50% of the Australian population.  Almost a quarter 
of all account -to-account transactions use d the new system.  Alongside that, there had been  a rapid 
drop in the use of che ques, which had  fallen by 90% in the past decade . He explained that  the 
government intended to phase out the use of cheques in Australia by 2030.  There had also been a 
corresponding drop in cash transactions as a share of retail payments, dropping from 27%  in 2019 
to 17% in 2022.  Those kinds of systems help ed lower the cost to business es, particularly small and 
medium enterprises , and could also  create opportunities both within Fintech  and within other sectors 
of the economy.   
1.12.  Moving on to practices to pursue financial inclusion, he focused  on financial literacy and 
financial capability.  A recent OECD report on Australia's financial services and inclusion noted that 
while Australia ha d on average a higher level of financial lite racy than other OECD members , it was 
not evenly spread across society.  There were  sectors of Australia's  society that ha d significantly 
lower levels of financial capability.  So the government ha d implemented a range of policies to 
address that, most recent ly a 2022 National Financial Capability Strategy.  This initiative aimed  at 
addressing a range of sectors of the community that were more vulnerable and face d lower levels 
of financial inclusion, including low -income earners, young people, women, Australia' s migrant 
community, small businesses and Australia's First Nations.  There were a range of programs to help 
lift financial capability among those sectors.  Those include d targeted programs aimed at preventing 
financial abuse and reducing violence against women, migration education programs to increase 
financial literacy amongst migrant communities, programs to assist teachers at primary and 
secondary schools  teach  financia l literacy to their students,  dedicated programs to help engage small 
businesses on tax and other issues, and finally both an Indigenous Women's Financial Wellness 
Strategy and an Indigenous Outreach Program to help lift financial capability among Australi a's First 
Nations peoples.  
1.13.  The representative of  the United Kingdom  said that  the sessions held in the 14 June  seminar 
had been  hugely informative.  He reiterated his thanks to the Chair, the proponents and to all the 
guest speakers for a wide -ranging and thought -provoking discussion.  His delegation was also 
grateful to those Members  that had shared their experiences . The UK was of the view that the forum S/FIN/M/99  
 
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  was a valuable resource as Members  looked to share best practice s and explore opportunities for 
cross-border coordination where appropriate.  In particular, the sessions had highlighted the role of 
digitization and its impact on financial inclusion.  He added that governments  must ensure that both 
international and domest ic interventions respond ed to technological developments, and must 
continue to work to narrow the digital divide  – in his view, that sentiment was  shared among many 
Members . More broadly, the UK was committed to unlocking the potential of women to fully 
participat e in the economy around the world, enabling women to play an equal role in the economy , 
to access the benefits of trade globally , and to establish  economic partnerships as levers for equality.  
That was  central to empowering women and achieving sust ainable economic growth.  The UK was  
committed to supporting the Informal Working Group on Trade and Gender, which was co -chaired 
by the UK's Ambassador. Turning to the Chair's proposal to hold a session on financial inclusion and 
Fintech , he said that the UK could  positively consider this proposal and would  like to work with others 
to determine how best this forum could progress such discussions, especially given the work of other 
international bodies in this area.   
1.14.  The representative of  Pakistan  said that his country was one of the most financially excluded 
countries in terms of access to reliable financial services.  For a country like Pakistan, where only 
23% of individuals had access to formal financial services  in 2015 , it was critical to build  a digital 
infrastructure, together with the digital ID system  and mobile networks , to provide financial services 
to individuals.  Pakistan established an API -based interoperable system, that enabled it to carry out 
high-volume, low -value transactions with a real -time settlement, something critical for small 
businesses.  The number of internet banking users ha d gone up by a factor of 1.5 over a period of 
three years , from 2020 to 2023.  The number of mobile banking users ha d gone up by 90%  from 
2020 to 2023.  Interestingly,  the average value per transaction ha d actually increased substantially , 
due in part  to the exchange rate  but primarily because of the greater  trust of people to carry out 
relatively large -value transactions using digital channels.  For example, for mobile banking users, the 
average value per mobile banking transaction  had gone up by a factor of 6.7.  In order to promote 
digital financial services , the government of Pakistan decided that the transaction fee would  be zero.  
1.15.  He further explai ned that one of the major use s of digital technology  for a country like Pakistan 
was international remittances.  Remittances  into Pakistan – around US$ 21 billion  – originated  from 
a number of different jurisdictions , including the  Middle East, Europe and t he US.  A large number of 
those transactions could  be done through the digital payment system, provided all users were 
connected  and the fees were low. However, on  average , fees currently stood in the range of 5% to 
6%. This was a significant cost. Apart fr om lowering the cost of remittances, it was critical to ensure 
that mobile networks were connected. Globally, networks were  connected. In his view, it  was high 
time to develop a common framework, which could perhaps be under the WTO or the BIS, whereby 
all payment systems , national and regional, could be interconnected. O nce th ose systems were 
connected, they would  enable very fast transactions.  Those transactions would  support not only 
remittances but  international trade as well . Having  a session or a seminar would be excellent because 
it would  allow Members  to speak and discuss this critical area . He added in that regard that access 
to financial services and reliable digital financial services was no longer a luxury  – rather, it 
constit uted a basic human right.   
1.16.  The representative of  the Kingdom of Saudia Arabia  said that , in line with the Kingdom's 
National Vision 2030 , one of the national objectives in the area of financial services was to transform 
the Kingdom into an innovative Fintech  hub with a thriving and responsible Fintech  ecosystem.  She 
said that the  Kingdom of Saudi Arabia welcome d the Chairpersons' proposal to hold a session on 
financial inclusion and Fintech . She also echoed other delegati ons on the importance of sharing 
experiences on financial  digitalization and the role of digitalization in promoting  financial services.  
The Kingdom recognize d the importance of addressing  the digital divide and enhancing  technical 
capacity for developing countries and LDCs, focusing on integrating MSMEs , women and  youth in 
global financial services.  
1.17.  The representative of  India said that at the seminar and at the last meeting, Members  had 
had a very interesting discussion on the issue of financial inclusion and accessibility. The seminar 
had shown very interesting presentations from a variety of participants, allowing for a global 
perspective on the various dimensions of the issue.  The issue of f inancial inclusion had been  
addressed in broad terms, touching upon different business models, national and international 
initiatives, gender parity issues, the role of digital technology, financial literacy, competition issues , 
regulatory frameworks and h ow the latter were adapting to technological change.  This broad -based 
discussion had been  very useful. The presentations had highlighted the disruptive nature of S/FIN/M/99  
 
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  technology and how governments, including the Indian government, were leveraging technology fo r 
financial inclusion.  In fact, in an earlier CTFS meeting, she had shared India's experience in the past 
few years, which had shown  that an inclusive digital architecture could bring about social and 
economic transformation.  
1.18.  India had developed a digital public infrastructure, whose basic architecture had inbuilt 
principles of open source, open APIs and open standards, which were interoperable and public.  For 
example, the digital public infrastructure developed by India had bridged the digital divide in se veral 
areas : Firstly, the Aadhaar  system , a 12 -digit unique identity number that could  be obtained 
voluntarily by the citizens of India based on their demographic profile, biometric s and demographic 
data, and could be used in various applications for relia ble authentication ; secondly, the Jan Dhan 
accounts , zero-balance accounts , which did not require users to maintain any minimum balance . In 
less than three years since the start of this program, 460 million individual accounts had been  
opened.  Out of 460 million individual accounts, 56% of the account holders were women , and 67% 
of the accounts were in rural and semi -urban areas.  Citizens were getting those banking services 
right at their doorsteps.  The JAM Trinity  (i.e., the combination of the Jan Dhan accounts, the 
Aadhaar -based authentication system and the mobile number ) had significantly reduced the financial 
divide using the digital in frastructure and ha d led to a digital payment revolution in the country.  
India's Unified Payment Interface  (UPI) account ed for 40% of global digital real -time payments.  In 
other words, out of 100 digital transactions happening in the world, 40 were happeni ng in India.  As 
for the absolute number of digital transactions, India's transactions had exceed ed the entire 
transactions of the United States, Canada, Europe and China taken together.  That development had  
been made possible as India introduced the digita l public infrastructure and scaled it up with security 
and assurance.  Those were points that had also been highlighted in India's presentation during the 
seminar held on 14 June.   
1.19.  Turning to the Chairperson's proposal, she said  her delegation would also like to see some 
more details before moving forward  and added that India would  remain engaged in further 
discussions on the issue within the mandate of th at Committee . She urged  that the discussions in 
that Committee  be conducted  within its mandate.  
1.20.  The representative of  Peru support ed the Chairperson's suggestion to hold  a thematic 
workshop that would focus on Fintech . The questions  raised by the Chair in the annotated agenda  
were pertinent . The Committee needed  to have an integ ral overview of this issue, which was 
influenced by  different cultural values . The Committee should focus on those communities that were 
especially vulnerable , including women as well as indigenous or native communities . He also 
favoured the  exchange of good practices  among Members.  Financial inclusion in Peru ha d improved 
significantly over the last few years.  The objective was to increase well -being through the access to 
and use of financial services that were of high quality  and affordable . Over 80% of the Fintech 
companies that ha d been created in Peru considered that they were contributing to financial 
inclusion . Challenges remained, including the development of infrastructure  and regulatory 
frameworks . Those were aspects falling within t he Committee 's mandate . From that perspective, he 
considered that the Committee should  focus on exchanging good practices  on th ose issues. Peru 
remained available to contribute  its own experience in Fintech and financial inclusion.  
1.21.  The representative of  Singapore  highlighted the importance of digitalisation in financial 
services and the efforts to leverage digital technologies to promote access to financial services and 
advance financial inclusion.  Commenting on India's statement, he noted that Singapore and India 
had a PayNow UPI (Unified Payments Interface) linkage to facilitate cross -border real -time 
payments.  He added that Singapore could positively consider the Chairperson 's suggestion for a 
thematic session on Fintech  and financial inclusion. Singapore remain ed committed in working with 
this Committee  on the organisation of future thematic seminars.  
1.22.  The representative of  the European Union addressed the questions  included in the annotated 
agenda  and said that the European Union share d the view that every sector of the economy in any 
form of trade, be it traditional or via digital means, depend ed on a well-functioning financial services 
sector and on businesses and consumers having secure and easy  access to financial services in their 
widest sense, be it in banking or insurance.  The European Union dealt with  the important issues of 
financial inclusion and accessibility of the financial system via its internal market dimension and 
relevant domestic frameworks . One example of the EU action was the Payment Account Directive, 
which had ensured that consumers in t he EU ha d the right to access a payment account . The 
percentage of consumers with at least one bank account in the EU reached  95%.  She added that S/FIN/M/99  
 
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  the EU remained available to share further details  on that and other policy actions  in future meetings 
if ther e was interest among the Members hip. She highlighted the importance of the SME dimension 
in policy and regulatory actions, an aspect that  featured prominently in the thematic seminar held 
on 14 June, as well as in the EU, which  had recently announced the a ppointment of a n SME envoy 
who would look into the challenges that SMEs face d in doing business . She also stressed  the 
importance of policies related to female empowerment and the contribution of such policies and 
actions to inclusive and sustainable econo mic growth and trade, including in the financial services 
sector.  Turning to the Chairperson's suggestion to organize a  dedicated  session on Fintech  and 
financial inclusion, she recall ed that the Committee had held a dedicated session on Fintech  a few 
years ago . The EU remained open to further discussions on Fintech  but it would be important to first 
see a proposed outline or agenda from interested Members  so the Committee  could  discuss that idea 
further on that basis.  
1.23.  The representative of  South Africa  welcomed the Chair's questions for discussion. However, 
in order to have a more impactful and focused discussion , she favoured maintaining one key theme 
on Financial Inclusion, which could be progressively unpack ed with specific questions going forw ard. 
Turning to the second question raised by the Cahir in the annotated agenda, she did not find it  useful  
to refer to good regulatory practic es because the GATS refe rred to measures affecting services and 
not to good regulatory practices.  She suggest ed that a more useful question could be the following: 
what measures have improved financial inclusion ? In her view, such formulation s would promote 
better evidence -based discussions.  Commenting on the third question, she recommended  expanding 
the reference to " women -led businesses " to "women - and youth -led businesses ". In her view, the 
fourth question overlapped with the second one, and she therefore recommended  that it be replaced 
with a question addressing the trade finance gap.  The rationale for  the latter lay with  recent evidence 
put forward by the Asian Development Bank , that  reported that the trade-finance gap had widened 
to USD 2.5 trillion, which was an indicator that financial exclusion was worsening.  She recalled that 
Africa was home to 33  of the world's LDCs  and it was  estimated that the trade finance gap on the 
continent was about USD 120 billion.  The recent joint World Bank and WTO Trade in Services for 
Development report also underscore d the role of financial services in driving structu ral 
transformation and diversification.  South Africa was of the  view that further discussions, case 
studies , or information sharing on how innovative new financial services and Fintech  could  close this 
gap in trade finance would be most useful to all Members .  
1.24.  The Chairperson  thanked Members for sharing national experiences and for the feedback on 
his suggestion. He said that he remained available for further consultations and views on the 
suggestion. He indi cated that , on the basis of Members' feedback, he would issue a short note 
outlining the structure, modalities , and topics that could be taken up in the proposed thematic 
session and would conduct further informal consultations.  
1.25.  The Committee took note  of statements made  and agreed  to revert to this agenda item at the 
next meeting.  
2  PROPOSAL FOR A THEMATIC SEMINAR ON COST OF REMITTANCE SERVICES – 
COMMUNICATION FROM INDIA AND THE PHILIPPINES ( JOB/SERV/CTFS/2/REV.1 )  
2.1.  The Chairperson  recall ed that , at the last meeting, the Committee had an interesting discussion 
on the proposal put forward by India and the Philippines to hold a thematic seminar on the cost of 
remittance services, contained in document JOB/SERV/CTFS/2/Rev.1 . The discussion showed that 
Members agreed on the importance of remittances and on the link between  inclusion and 
accessibility, which had been  the subject of the thematic seminar held in June. The proposal had 
gathered broad support. However, while the cost of remittances was a crucial aspect, a number of 
Members also mentioned that other relevant aspects could be further developed in the  proposal so 
as to broaden the seminar's scope. He added that it was his understanding that  the proponents ha d 
been working on a revised proposal and had been holding consultations with other interested 
Members. On  his part, he met with India and intereste d Members in the week prior to this meeting. 
During those consultations, he  noted the willingness of India and the Philippines to accommodate 
Members' views and also the constructive engagement of delegations on the basis of potential 
revisions that might be introduced . The purpose of this agenda item was to continue the discussion 
on this proposal with a view to getting agreement on a suitable agenda for the proposed thematic 
seminar.   S/FIN/M/99  
 
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  2.2.  After this introduction, as indicated by the Chairperson in the annotat ed agenda circulated prior 
to the meeting ( JOB/SERV/CTFS/6 ), the meeting turned to  informal mode  to continue discussions.  
2.3.  Back to formal mode, the Chairperson  thanked delegations for their constructive approach. As 
indicated by the proponents, a revised proposal, the elements of which had been shared during the 
informal mode of discussion, would be circulated in the coming days. He invited Members' to share 
their feedback and comments on the revised proposal, and said that he would conduct informal 
consultations in due course.  
2.4.  The Committee took note  of the statements made and agreed  to revert to th is agenda item at 
its next meeting.  
3  FUTURE WORK OF THE COMMITTEE  
3.1.  As indica ted in the annotated agenda, the Chairperson  said that as that was  the first meeting 
under his chairpersonship, he would like to discuss the Committee 's future work beyond the areas 
addressed in the previous items, as well as the discussions on broader WTO reform.  An issue in the 
debate on WTO reform that was particularly relevant to this Committee  was how to strengthen the 
work of WTO regular bodies, i mprove transparency under the existing agreements, and enhance the 
WTO's monitoring and deliberation functions.  According to its terms of reference, the primary 
function of the Committee  was to oversee the implementation of specific commitments.  In his vie w, 
this function ha d not been as well fulfilled as it should be, and as a matter of fact, the Committee  
had seen  very limited engagement by Members  over the past few years . However, thanks to the 
proposals brought forward , respectively,  by Canada and India , the recent meetings ha d shown great 
interest in reinvigorating the work of the Committee , making it a useful tool for Members.  
3.2.  The issues already identified by Canada and India , as well as those  subsequently pointed at by 
Members at recent meetings  and a s a follow -up to the thematic seminar in June, were very relevant 
in today's financial services sector, and certainly f ell within the mandate of this Committee . In his 
view, all Members stood to  learn and profit from a discussion o n the services trade -related aspects 
of inclusion, accessibility and remittances.  However, there might be other issues that Members might 
wish to address, or activities or information -gathering exercises that the Committee  could pursue.  
3.3.  Having said that, he invited Members to share views on how to re -invigorate the work of the 
Committee , and make it fulfil its mandate , in particular  as regards the following:  to provide a forum 
for technical discussions, to examine research on measures of Members, to conduct examinations of 
any other technical matters affecting trade and services in the sector concerned, and to cooperate 
with other international organizations active in this sector.  
3.4.  In the annotated agenda, he had  suggested some options as follows:  
i. To examine technical issues that Members may identify.  
ii. To review , at least once a year , recent developments in financial services trade , both 
at national, regional or international levels , and to could include a specific  agenda item 
in this regard.  
iii. And thirdly, to review regional integration initiatives on financial services trade. This 
could be a dedicated session or a series of dedicated sessions, where various regional 
integration initiatives or cooperation schemes on financial services could be presented.  
3.5.  The purpose of this agenda item was therefore to seek Members'  views and suggestions on 
how to enrich the agenda and further reinvigorate the work of the Committee  in line with its broad 
mandate.  He invited delegates to provide feedback on his suggestions and also indentify  other 
technical issues that the CTFS could  address.  
3.6.  The representative of Canada  thanked the Chairperson for including this item  on the agenda. 
She shared  some preliminary thoughts and reactions  to the Chairperson's suggestions.  Canada's 
goal in putting forward a proposal for a thematic seminar on financial inclusion  was to leverage  the 
forum provided by this Committee  to allow Members to  share information on developments in the 
financial services sector from a trade perspective . In Canada's view, this was a very unique S/FIN/M/99  
 
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  Committee  in the sense that , unlike other  fora deal ing with financial services policy around the world, 
the CTFS was at the intersection of trade officials and financial sector policy experts, allowing 
Members to  look at issues in the financial services sector from the trade lens  – that perspective was 
quite unique  and it was useful for Members to leverage the unique opportunity that it brough t. That 
particular perspective constituted the most significant value added of this Committee. From that 
perspective, the Committee  could serve for further information sharing  and best practice sharing  
among Members. She turned to the suggestion made by th e Chairperson to review , at least once a 
year, recent developments in financial services trade, both at national, regional or international 
levels . In her view, that suggestion was in line with the notion of using this Committee  as a forum 
for information sharing. She asked in that regard whether the Chairperson could further elaborat e 
on what that might look like, whether it was a practice that the Committee  had undertaken in the 
past, and whether this would entail a report from the Secretariat  or simply an agenda item  under 
which Members could exchange views on an annual basis .  
3.7.  Invited by the Chairperson, a representative of the Secretariat  said that in the past the 
Committee  used to have a standing i tem on the agenda  that was called precisely  "recent 
developments in financial services trade ". The purpose of that agenda item  had been  to allow 
interested Members to present developments in their own national markets  affecting trade in 
financial services , such as new policies, new regulations, new  technological  developments . It had 
also allowed for presentations by regional organizations , invited on an ad -hoc basis to make 
presentations. As a standing item on the agenda, it had allowed for presentations to be made at any 
time during  the year . If the suggestion was taken up, nothing prevented the Committee from having 
such an agenda item once a year instead of at every meeting.  
3.8.  The representative of the United States  agreed that Members should discuss how to revitalize 
this Committee . He noted that the Committee was more active  than other CTS  subsidiary bodies, 
which was an indication of Members' interest.  However, this was a sensitive area with a high level 
of domestic regulation , so for that reason, it  was really important that prop osals be Member driven . 
He considered that proposals submitted recently by Canada, India, the Philippines, and even China 
in the past , which allowed Members to ensure the relevance of the work carried out by the Committee 
and to address any sensitivities , had been  good models to follow . One way to revitalize the work of 
the Committee was , therefore , to encourage Members to be the ones that drive the conversation . 
He added that the United States was generally against creating new standing agenda items. In his 
view,  reinvigoration  could be achieved through  Members ' efforts  to propose and maintain discussions 
on topics, while standing agenda items could , conversely , lead to stagnation . 
3.9.  The representativ e of the  Philippines  saw value in regular information exchanges on regional 
and international cooperation in financial services . For example, ASEAN  was pursuing a cross -border 
payments initiative , utilizing QR codes, local currency, as well as fast payment s and real -time gross 
settlement . It would be instructive to be appraised of new developments in this space . 
3.10.  The representative of the European Union  said that the EU was looking into improving  the 
functioning of the Committee s, including services Committee s. She said Members would discuss 
some of th ose issues of improving procedural aspects of Committee s in the CTS as well . However, 
she shared the concerns expressed by the United States. She agreed that the  Chairperson had 
identified a number of important issues  for discussion, but many of th ose issues could well be 
proposed by Members themselves , should they see a need to discuss  them, not necessarily on a 
standing agenda item basis,  but through the submission of  proposals  and communications, that 
could then lead to  a follow -up in the Committee  or to the organization of  thematic seminars .  
3.11.  The representative of the United Kingdom  welcomed the Chair's suggestion to collectively 
consider how to reinvigorate the work of the Commit tee so it could better fulfil its mandate . He used 
the opportunity to flag that the UK had been thinking about this, and that the UK's reform paper to 
be discussed at the CTS contained some suggestions that could have read across to  this Committee . 
In principle, the UK would welcome evidence -based discussions across the CTS and its subsidiary 
bodies, including the CTFS . The UK was also considering possible topics for discussion in the 
Committee , including technical issues and regional integration initia tives, and would welcome 
engagement with Members on possible further topics . 
3.12.  The representative of China  showed appreciation for the Chair's proposal regarding the future 
work of this Committee . In principle, he shared the necessity to reinvigorate the fun ctioning of this 
Committee , and that the process must be  Member -driven. There was no question  about that , but in S/FIN/M/99  
 
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  his view , the Chairperson , definitely had a role to play in this process.  In his view, as a sort of action 
plan, the Chair had the prerogative to provide a checklist of thematic items for Members' 
consideration . Should Members  have an interest in taking up the themes in the checklist, they  could 
make relevant proposals. Such a checklist under t he Chair's leadership, could be consulted with the 
Secretariat  and other international organizations , with a view to focusing it on the work that the 
Committee should undertake. Topics such as recent development s in the financial sector , from a 
trade persp ective, and including the development dimension, were worth exploring. He encouraged 
Members to c ome up with more creative ways to make sure that the Committee's agenda could be 
a living agenda  instead of stopping discussion on an issue after holding a sem inar.  
3.13.  The Chairperson  said that his objective, as Chair, was to put forward th ose questions as "food 
for thought", t o elicit feedback from Members . He agreed it was a Member -driven process . But he 
felt, as Chair, that the discussion on WTO reform  was very much focused on the procedural aspects . 
His objective was to complement that approach with a discussion on substantive issues on which 
Members could further engage. He hoped that Members would continue discussions on WTO reform 
at the next meetin g and invited Members to put forward further ideas in the interim .  
3.14.  The Committee took note  of the sta tements made and agreed  to revert to this agenda item 
at the next meeting . 
4  OTHER BUSINESS  
4.1.  There were no items raised under Other Business.  
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