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S/C/M/140  
 
13 December  2019 
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Council for Trade in Services    
 
 
REPORT OF THE MEETIN G HELD ON 30 OCTOBER 2019 
NOTE BY THE SECRETAR IAT1 
The Council for Trade in Services held a meeting dedicated to the review of the operation of 
preferences notified under the LDC services Waiver  on 30 October 2019. The meeting was chaired 
by Ambassador Muylle (Belgium). The agenda was contained in document WTO/AIR/CTS/19.  
 
The Chairman  reminded  Members  that the Nairobi Ministerial Decision mandate d the Council, inter 
alia, "to initiate a process to review the oper ation of notified preferences, on the basis of information 
provided by Members". In October 2018, the LDC Group  had circulated a submission, in document 
JOB/SERV/284, proposing that, as part of that mandated process to review notified preferences, the 
Council hold a dedicated session.   
 
At its December 2018 meeting, the Council had  agreed to the dedicated session proposed by the 
LDC Group and during the first half of 2019 delegations had discussed the organization of the event. 
At the Council meeting held i n June, Members  had agreed to structure the dedicated session in two 
parts. Part I would be organized as a workshop, to allow Members and relevant stakeholders to 
exchange information related to the participation of LDCs in trade in services , while P art II would be 
organized as a formal meeting of the Council.  
 
The workshop constituting  Part I of the dedicated session, with the theme "Facilitating the increasing 
participation of Least developed countries in Trade in Services", had been  successfully held the day 
before . The workshop had been  opened by the WTO Director -General and by Ambassador Johnson 
of Togo, on behalf of Ambassador Aparr of Uganda. The introductory session had provided an 
overview of the landscape of LDC services exports and had discussed the factors behind the current 
performance.  Informative and stimulating contributions had been provided by representatives of the 
WTO Secretariat, academia and the World Bank.  
 
Session 2 had looked at efforts to enhance LDC services export perfor mance, from different 
perspectives. Representatives of UNCTAD and ITC  had shared inform ation about the initiatives of 
their respective Organizations to help improve the participation of LDCs in global services exports.  
An LDC government official, from Nepa l, had shared information about his government 's efforts and 
experience in promoting services exports. Finally, representatives from Members ' development 
cooperation agencies, from Germany, Australia, the United States and Turkey, had reported on their 
strategies, highlighted certain of their programmes and shared the lessons they had learnt in that 
context.  Members has also learnt about some other delegations ' development assistance efforts of 
relevance to LDC services trade.   
 
The third session of the wor kshop  had addressed the success factors and main difficulties faced by 
LDC service exporters. Inputs were provided by  a representative of CBI, the agency working for the 
Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs to connect SMEs in developing countries and LDCs to the European 
market, as well as by private sector representatives from Uganda, Burkina Faso, Mali and Vanuatu 
who operate d across a range of services sectors. The speakers had shared their experiences and 
described both the factors that had helped them bec ome successful exporters and the difficulties 
they still faced. They  had also highlighted the issues they felt should be addressed to improve LDC 
participation in world services trade.  
 
                                                
1 This document ha s 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/C/M/140  
 
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  A final session had seen  the WTO Secretariat provide an overview of th e current preferences notified 
under the Waiver and several interventions from Members about their own experience with the 
operation of the Waiver preferences until then . 
 
Presentations and contributions had been extremely rich and diverse and  had offered interesting 
and valuable insights. The Chairman expressed the hope  that the participants had found the 
workshop as interesting as he had, and that the event had offered plenty of food for thought and 
reflection about the possible contribution of the WTO in increasing the participation of LDCs in 
services trade.  
 
Finally, the Chairman  thank ed all the speakers for their contributions, the LDC Group and other 
Member s for their efforts and cooperation in organising the workshop and the Secretariat for 
managing the process and  having provided  funding for the travel of speakers from LDCs.  
 
That day's formal meeting constitute d Part II of the dedicated session. The Chairman recall ed that, 
to help structure the discussion and allow for a meaningful exchange, he had proposed the agenda 
items the meeting would address, as well as annotations to provide context and guidance to 
Members in preparing their participation and stru cturing their interventions. He had laid out th ose 
elements in a Chairman Note, circulated as document JOB/SERV/289, and they  had proved 
agreeable to Members.  
 
With regard to the annotations to the agenda , the Chairman  noted  that agenda item A was meant 
to allow delegations, further to a presentation by the Secretariat, to assess existing data on LDC 
services trade, including the question of how to address gaps in collection and reporting, and how 
different data sources might  be used to identify areas of op portunity for LDC services exporters.  
 
Under agenda item B, instead, Members m ight provide their assessment of the practical use of 
preferences by LDC service suppliers, and exchange information on success stories and challenges, 
including in relation to LDC national development goals . Members might share their experiences of 
technical assistance and capacity -building measures to orient and enable LDC service suppliers to 
take advantage of the preference benefits available, as well as measures aimed at pro moting 
increased LDC participation in international services trade . Also, Members might exchange views on 
how to further facilitate benefits provided under the Waiver as well as other measures aimed at 
increasing the participation of LDCs in world services  trade.  
 
Under both items A and B, Members m ight draw on information presented at the workshop under 
Part I of the dedicated session.  
 
1  ITEM A: DATA ON LDCS TRADE I N SERVICES, INCLUDIN G GAPS IN DATA COLLE CTION 
AND REPORTING  
1.1.  The Chairman  noted that  a representative of the Secretariat ha d kindly agreed to present the 
latest trends in LDC services trade, including any gaps in data collection and reporting.  
1.2.  A representative of the Secretariat  recalled that, as had been presented at the work shop the 
day before, LDCs accounted for only 0.3 % of world services exports in 2017, the latest available 
year according to the Secretariat 's new comprehensive estimates which, for the first time, covered 
trade in all the four modes of supply. In the 12 y ears from 2005, the LDC group has gained only 0.1 
percentage points in share of total services exports, compared with almost 10 percentage points for 
other developing economies.   
1.3.  LDC exports of services were concentrated in a handful of countries. The firs t 5 exporters 
accounted for almost half of LDCs ' total services exports. LDC services exports were also 
concentrated in terms of sectors, with tourism being the largest service export of LDC s, accounting 
for 34.4% of the total, followed by transport, at 21 ,5%, and distribution services, at 20,6%. Those 
three sectors alone accounted for more than 75% of LDCs ' total services exports.  
1.4.  Tourism was the most inclusive export sector for LDCs, with the share of tourism exports in 
total services exports equal or ex ceeding 50% in many individual LDCs. LDCs ' participation in tourism 
exports ha d increased from some 0.6% in 2005 to 1.3% in 2017, so doubling. When it came to data 
availability for tourism, one needed to look at the "travel" category in the Balance of Paym ents 
(BoP), which, however, captured trade only through modes 1, 2 and 4. The number of LDCs reporting S/C/M/140  
 
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  their 2017 exports of travel/tourism was only 37, with 10 countries still missing. In spite of the gaps, 
the Secretariat had some data for those ten miss ing countries, but the latest available year was not 
available. Delays in submitting information needed to be flagged . Although  there were one - or two -
year time lags for at least a few countries, in general, there had been an increase in data reporting. 
However, at a more disaggregated level, the number of reporting LDCs declined.   
1.5.  Although there were no bilateral statistics for tourism trade, UNWTO statistics were quite 
detailed in reporting the origin of tourist arrivals to individual LDCs. On that basis,  the Secretariat 
had been able to reconstruct the relevant flows and could show that travel exports of Asian LDCs 
had grown impressively over recent years , thanks to tourist arrivals from other neighbouring Asian 
economies, which accounted for 85% of all t ourists visiting Asian LDCs, while tourist arrivals from 
other regions were significantly lower in numbers. Hence, tourism exports of Asian LDCs were 
predominantly intraregional and south -south. That was less the case for African LDCs, where in 
addition to  intraregional tourism arrivals there were also tourists of European origin, as well as from 
other regions. Looking at the data in more detail, one could see that China had been the main driver 
of the big increase in tourism exports of Asian LDCs. Arrivals  from China had increased on average 
by more than 60% per year in the period 2012 -2015, even if other countries in Asia had also 
contributed to that increase.   
1.6.  Moving to the transport sector, 36 LDCs had reported statistics on exports of transport in 2017.  
Many provided the breakdown by modes of transport and kind (passenger, freight or other types of 
supporting and auxiliary transport services). The bulk of LDC transport exports were accounted for 
by air transport, with Ethiopia the largest air transport e xporter. Big gaps existed for transport other 
than air and maritime services. While some subsectors, such as space transport, might not be of 
relevance, road transport might be of interest for many LDCs but no information was available.  
1.7.  Turning to telecomm unications, computer and information services, 27 out of the 36 LDCs that 
reported on aggregate ICT also reported on their breakdown. On the basis of the information 
available, it was possible to make reliable estimates about computer services trade for th e LDC 
group, which showed that the leading LDC exporter of computer services in 2017 had been  
Bangladesh, followed by Madagascar, which had seen its computer services exports increase quite 
rapidly over recent years, and then by Uganda, Myanmar, and Senega l. Bangladesh had recently 
started publishing very detailed BoP statistics and, although that information had not yet been 
submitted to international bodies, a detailed breakdown was available of the type of computer 
services that had been  supplied by Bang ladesh from 1 July 2017 until 30 June 2018. The bulk were 
computer data processing and hosting services, followed by customized computer software and 
consultancy services , and a very small part was accounted for by installation, maintenance and 
repair of c omputer equipment. The Secretariat was appreciative of the publication by Bangladesh of 
data on exports and imports by region and destination, which showed that more than two -thirds of 
Bangladesh's  computer services reached the U nited States  as well as oth er Members , such as India.  
1.8.  With regard to insurance and financial services, there was a high number of reporting LDCs, 
which allowed reasonably good estimates, and there was also some breakdown data available. 
Moving to business services in the BOP, 35 LD Cs were reporting data, but with virtually inexistent 
detailed breakdown. For instance, for professional management consulting services, there were 27 
out of 35 LDCs reporting, but no information was available on the nature of those services. 
Continuing wi th technical, trade -related and other business services in the B oP, 34 LDCs reported 
data. One of the challenges mentioned  to the Secretariat by services statisticians in LDCs concerned 
the fact that current data collection was not designed to capture deta ils; in th at regard, the 
representative noted that that data collection in many countries was based on international 
transactions reporting system (ITRS), an old way of collecting data which should be complemented 
by surveys. If surveys were available, the re was a significant time lag between them, but surveys 
could also be used to produce estimates.  
1.9.  In terms of LDC supplies of other business and professional services, half of the exports 
originated from Asian LDCs, with Myanmar as the leading exporter, fo llowed by Bangladesh and  
Nepal, while many LDCs in Africa were lagging. Although no information existed regarding the 
destination of Myanmar 's exports of business and professional services, it was available for 
Bangladesh. Bangladesh 's exports of other bus iness and professional services were very diversified, 
reaching both the region, such as with India and China, but also the United States and the European 
Union.   S/C/M/140  
 
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  1.10.   Overall, little information was available on LDCs ' bilateral services exports, because tracin g 
the direction of LDCs ' exports was very difficult. In that regard, the Secretariat would welcome 
receiving any information from LDCs on bilateral trade. The issue did not solely concern LDCs, but 
preference -granting Members and all Members generally had difficulties in producing statistics by 
origin and destination in the field of trade in services. That was a widespread problem that the 
Secretariat was trying to address in its work, but more needed to be done.  
1.11.   The only economy that regularly published in formation regarding services imports from LDCs, 
which could be used as a mirror of exports for LDCs, was the European Union. LDCs accounted for 
0.6% of EU services imports from the world  in 2017 , with the bulk of imports originating from African 
LDCs. Thes e imports, amounting to almost US$ 12 billion, from an LDC export viewpoint accounted 
for more than 30% of LDCs ' services exports, on a mirror basis. Unfortunately, the sectoral 
breakdown was not available, but a breakdown was available by country. It show ed that that Liberia 
was the first partner for the EU; although no further information was available, on e possible 
explanation might be the Liberian shipping registry, as Liberia was the second -largest  shipping 
registry in the world and the payments associated with the granting of the Liberian flag could be 
recorded as services exports from Liberia.  
1.12.   That was  all that was available from the preference -granting Members in terms of bilateral 
imports from LDCs. For other Members, only scattered information was available at the individual 
LDC level, just a few data points for an occasional year.   
1.13.   Bangladesh was th e leading LDC services exporter and, to the Secretariat 's knowledge, the 
only LDC that produced bilateral statistics on trade in services. It was therefore possible to have 
some information on services exports by destination, for modes 1, 2 and 4, which sh owed that 
Bangladesh exported services to both developing and developed Members, with the European Union 
as the biggest destination, followed by the United States. In terms of the type of services that were 
exported by Bangladesh to the EU, after air trans port services, other business and professional 
services were the second -largest and accounted for 26.6% of the total, with computer services 
accounting for 8.1%. When it came to Bangladesh's services export to the United States, the share 
accounted for by computer services was almost double that of the European Union, while the share 
of other business and professional services was lower than in the case of the European Union.  
1.14.   In terms of elements necessary for a successful strategy to improve trade in serv ices 
statistics, what was needed were efforts by national statistical agencies; financial resources to collect 
and compile statistics, because designing and running surveys was very expensive; cooperation 
between national institutions, such as the Central Banks, the national statistics office  and the Ministry 
of Trade; and cooperation between international and regional institutions in support of national 
initiatives, in order to achieve an effective technical assistance that was targeted to countries ' needs .  
1.15.   The representative of Senegal  said that  services trade  data was crucial  to assess trade in 
services and the opportunities for LDCs in that area, and that  lack of data represented  a challenge 
in trying to review the operation of the Waiver preferences. H e had noted that certain LDCs were 
more advanced in their data collection, and notably Bangladesh, and sought to understand what 
could be learnt from the experience of Bangladesh in that regard. He called for technical assistance 
to help improve services t rade data collection. He a lso noted that data proved a challenge not only 
for LDCs but for all Members  and that efforts were needed to improve the situation . 
1.16.   The representative of Uganda  said that services data collection was a daunting task and that 
it had indeed  prove n very challenging for Uganda. She noted the difficulty of  obtaining disaggregated 
data and of integrating  data from various sources in a manner that avoided duplication and 
inconsistencies. Different data sources were indeed used, and that c reated variance with regard to 
data accuracy, frequency, coverage,  relevance and processing. For Uganda, persons and households' 
surveys, and in particular border  and labour force surveys, constituted a major source for the 
production of mode 2 statistics. However, those  surveys were not often carried out , which was a 
problem in itself .  
1.17.   Bilateral statistics were amongst the biggest challenge,  but they were especia lly essential to 
undertake an assessment of the operation of the Waiver preferences. Although she had noted from 
the Secretariat presentation that data was available with regard to tourist arrivals, she noted that 
services trade was  about  much more than ju st tourism services. She also wished to understand if S/C/M/140  
 
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  useful lessons could be drawn from Bangladesh 's experience, and other Members ' views in that 
regard would be welcome  as well.  
1.18.   Before responding to the question s asked of his delegation , the representati ve of Bangladesh  
sought additional information from  the Secretariat about  the reason s for lack in trade data in the 
rail transport sector for LDC s.  
1.19.   Turning to  the questions about Bangladesh 's availability of services  trade  data, the 
representative stated that , while  he could  not instantly provide a detailed  statistical analysis , he 
could report  that, despite its limited capacity , Bangladesh had always tried its best to ensure data 
availability. Coordination had been  a key factor for s uccessful information dissemination. The 
National Statistics Office under the Ministry of Planning worked  closely with all relevant 
organizations. The Central Bank, the Bangladesh Bank, was also maintaining records and publishing 
data regularly , and t he Ministry of Commerce was also involved . Moreover, the coordination unit at 
the Prime Minister 's Office  had always promote d effective collaboration  and data -sharing among the 
agencies. Private sector entities were also providing data to the Central Bank. For the particular  
dataset of presented by the Secretariat, the reporting format might also have helped. He stated 
that, when there was good coordination among the relevant and competent  agencies, availability of 
data was not a problem.  
1.20.   The representative of Myanmar  thanked the WTO Secretariat for its hard work and 
professionalism and other international organizations for their presentations at the  workshop. She 
underscored the importance of the workshop for LDCs  because,  in the past, LDC service suppliers 
had been categorized as unskilled or low -skilled . Since  LDC service suppl iers were  quite wide ranging 
and reflecting diversity , she request ed that Members notify more Waiver preferences  in favour of 
LDCs.  
1.21.   She recognize d that services trade data was challeng ing for LDCs . During the Secretariat 's 
presentation, she had  noticed that Myanmar 's data on destination of other business services  exports 
was not available and she would  convey the message to the Capital for further cooperation. She 
called for greater  support to improve the collection of export and import statistics and to obtain  
information  about the destination market s for LDC exports .  
1.22.   She encourage d Members to grant  preference s that  remove d barriers for LDC suppliers to 
enter markets , especially develop ed markets. Evidently , consumers place d high value on LDC service 
suppliers in the  sector. Finally , she urged greater information  exchange among  the Membership to 
ensure the realisation of the  benefits emanating from the Waiver preference s and to support LDC 
service s sector s and trade.  
1.23.   The representative of Brazil  noted that , based on the Secretariat 's presentation,  Brazil was 
the destination market for 0.2% of Bangladesh 's exports . According to Brazilian BoP statistics, in 
2017-2018 Brazil had imported less tha n 0.1%  of services  from LDCs . These  imports had come 
specifically from  seven LDCs , and mostly from  Angola, but not from Bangladesh; it would therefore 
be useful  to understand the discrepancy with the data reported by the Secretariat. It would also be  
interesting to know more about best practices and successful  projects o f cooperation between 
Central Banks , Statistical Offices  and Ministries . Bangladesh  had shared its experience, but  it would 
be helpful to discuss o ther examples of how inter-agency cooperation might help improve services 
trade data collection.  
1.24.   A representative of the Secretariat  replied to the question from Bangladesh by indicating that 
the breakdown for transport services only included air, sea and road  transport. She added that the 
focus was on exports of rail transport services, not on domestic supply.   
1.25.   She then stressed that inter -agency cooperation was very important, and that it was essential 
to involve all the different stakeholders concerned by  data production and compilation and those 
who were interested in data. She acknowledged that Central Banks and National Statistics Offices 
had their own priorities and hence needed to be educated by those who were using the data as to 
why such data  was neede d. It was also an internal education process. In the Secretariat 's 
experience, when the Ministry took the lead, eventually project s succeeded, although the Ministry 
needed to interact and coordinate with other agencies. The existence of a statistics commit tee, 
possibly headed by the Ministry, and cooperation with the private sector, which sometimes had data S/C/M/140  
 
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  but was not willing to release or publish it because of confidentiality issues, also helped. The ability 
to maintain the confidentiality of the data was  crucial in th at regard. Those were some examples of 
best practices.  
1.26.   In terms of funding, it was possible explore donor funding. For instance, as she had mentioned 
at the Council meeting of October 2018, PARIS21, the Partnership in Statistics for Developm ent in 
the 21st Century , worked with national statistics offices to develop a national plan for the production 
of statistics in developing countries. If LDCs ensured that the development of trade in services 
statistics was included in their national five -year plan for the development of statistics (NSSD), a 
plan which was normally approved by Parliament, it would be easier to get access to donor funds. 
In the case of LDCs, the NSSD would be almost fully funded by donors.  
1.27.   With regard to the importance of im proving data collection and experience -sharing, she said 
that the experience of Bangladesh, as the leading LDC services exporter, was important and showed 
the impact of bringing all stakeholders  together .  
1.28.   Finally, the Secretariat was aware that another im portant preference grantor would make 
available more detailed statistics at the bilateral level in 2020, although it was not known at what 
level of detail.  
1.29.   The Chairman  suggested that the Council take note of the statement s made.  
1.30.   It was so agreed . 
2  ITEM B: INCREASING PARTICIPA TION OF LDCS IN SERV ICES TRADE AND EXPAN SION 
OF THEIR SERVICES EX PORTS THROUGH, INTER  ALIA, PREFERENCES N OTIFIED UNDER 
THE LDC SERVICES WAI VER  
2.1.  The Chairman  recalled that, as stated at  the start of the meeting, under  item B  delegations 
might provide their assessment of the practical use of preferences by LDC service suppliers, and 
exchange information on success stories and challenges, including in relation to LDC national 
development goals ; share their experiences of technical a ssistance and capacity -building measures 
to orient and enable LDC service suppliers to take advantage of preference benefits available, as 
well as measures aimed at promoting increased LDC participation in international services trade ; or 
exchange views on  how to further facilitate benefits provided under the Waiver as well as other 
measures aimed at increasing the participation of LDCs in world services trade.  
2.2.  The representative of Uganda , speaking on behalf of the  LDC Group , thank ed the Chairman, 
the WTO Services Division and Members for having worked with the Group  to organize and deliver 
an excellent workshop. The LDC Group  also thank ed Director -General Az evêdo for having opened  
the event , as well as Ambassador Johnson for having so eloquently deliver ed the intervention on 
behalf of LDC Group Coordinator Ambassador Makaila of Chad,  who had to be out of Switzerland, 
and the focal point, Ambassador Aparr , who had encountered an emergency.  
2.3.  The LDC Group  had found the panels extremely rich  and thank ed the first panel for setting the 
scene in no unclear terms and for having given Members food for thought. Enormous value -addition 
was achieved with the participation of LDC services suppliers. They had shared their experiences in 
developing their busines ses, supplying services domestically  and exporting to their regions and 
abroad. For this , the LDC Group  gave special thanks to ITC and to Ms. Chilala of the WTO's ITTC, 
who had mobilized resources to support the participation of LDC suppliers. The LDC Grou p was 
thankful that th ose LDC participants had been  able to surmount the obstacles of obtaining a visa , as 
others had not been able to attend  because of visa difficulties.  
2.4.  At the workshop, the  LDC Group  had learnt about the successes and challenges of  the LDC 
suppliers  present , which were  aligned with the elements found in the LDC Collective Request. The 
LDC Group  had noted  a number of take -aways . These included:  the need for financing to assist LDC 
service suppliers and the role of institutions such as the Enhanced Integrated Framework  in that 
regard; the  very high insurance costs faced by some LDC firms to supply services ; the standards  
that had to be met  for quality rankings. ; a number of behind -the-border and regulatory constraints 
in export markets that proved impediments for LDC suppliers.   S/C/M/140  
 
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  2.5.  The LDC Group  thank ed the notifying Members that had intervened at the workshop  to share 
the results to date in terms of services imports from LDCs and about the supply -side assistance that 
they pro vided. The LDC Group  also thank ed the International Organizations that had intervened, 
and call ed upon them to move forward on a number of programme s, as follows.   
2.6.  First, the ITC should  continue to produce its services snapshots for LDCs and retain LDC 
consultants in LDCs to gather information on services sectors, export markets, services exports and 
any barriers or challenges identified , as well as  to document success stories. This information could 
then be se nt to ITC to compile a database to benefit LDCs and assist in tracking progress.  
2.7.  Second, UNCTAD should continue and upgrade its Services Policy Reviews and prepare them 
for each LDC. In addition, UNCTAD should ensure that at least one of its multi -year exp ert meetings 
was dedicated to LDC services issues, ensuring that LDC service suppliers and policy -makers  
participated .  
2.8.  Third, t he LDC Group  request ed the WTO Secretariat to continue to prepare and update the 
very valuable  and welcome LDC country profiles , with information on services exports, imports, 
share of GDP and modes of supply. More information and data on destination markets should be 
added for future updates. For further clarity,  she explained that  the LDC Group had requested that 
information for the workshop and for the LDC Group 's further use, had been delighted that the 
Secretariat had  provided it, and thank ed them again for their excellent work.  
2.9.  The LDC Group  thank ed all of the Members having notified Waiver preferences  and once again 
called upon those that ha d not yet done so to notify preferences. In looking a back on  the LDC 
Group 's journey and the assessment of notifications that the Group  had engaged in with Members 
in the recent past, the LDC Group  wanted  to express its appreciat ion to  Australia, who had been the 
first Member  to submit a notification in response to the LDC Collective Request with a format that 
was understandable and contain ed many sectors of interest. Th at had prompted a number of other 
notifications  with a similar format . The LDC Group  had asked that Members be clear about what 
constituted a preference.  
2.10.   The LDC Group  also thank ed Members for providing market access , national treatment and 
mode 4 preferences. The impediments LDC services suppliers continue d to face had been recalled 
in the remarks by Ambassador Kokou and by some of the LDC suppliers who  had spoke n at the 
workshop . The LDC Group  especially applaud ed India for having cover ed elements from the 
Collective Request in market access but also waiving visa fees, having introdu ced a preferential 
quota for LDCs, capacity -building and technical assistance activities and program mes, as well as for 
the information that LDC exports to India ha d actually doubled as a re sult of the  Indian  preferences.  
2.11.   The LDC Group  likewise thank ed Turkey for having waived work permits for some categories 
of their suppliers, and China for having introduc ed preferred destination status to help promote 
tourism to LDCs. The LDC Group  had especially noted the further step taken by th ose delegations 
to share available  figures  and underscored  that this had shown  that Members c ould share  data 
relating to the preferences that they ha d notified. The LDC Group  would appreciate if this information 
was always relayed to the WTO Secretariat.  
2.12.   The LDC Group  requested that Members consider doing more to reduce and eliminate 
regulatory and procedural hindrances and constraints on LDC suppliers to  enable them to  respond 
to demand from consumers in their ma rkets. Strengthening the supply -side w as seen as imperative 
to assist LDCs in a comprehensive  approach to advanc e their services sector  and trade and  to 
improv e their economies.  
2.13.   The LDC Group  hoped  that events  like the workshop would  be held again  in the future, and 
that the WTO would earmark sufficient financing to bring LDC service suppliers to continue discussing 
and exchanging their experiences and views. The LDC Group  also request ed that notifying Members 
arrang e to bring some of their consume rs of LDC services. The LDC Group  was particularly thank ful 
to CBI Netherlands for the very useful insights regarding the EU market and look ed forward to more 
engagement of that kind in the future.  
2.14.   The LDC Group  stated that a wareness -building and orientin g LDC suppliers , and consumers 
in notifying Members , would  go a long way to communicating the message behind the Waiver S/C/M/140  
 
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  mechanism and the objectives of improv ing and advanc ing LDC participation in  services  trade . The 
LDC Group  had heard from Australia, Japan and India about the activities that they were conducting 
in that regard and  applaud ed them. The LDC Group  called on other Members to do the same and to 
provide them with  such information. The Group in Geneva  had prepared a dema rche on the Waiver, 
which  they had  shared with their Capitals to assist in awareness -raising about the Waiver 
preferences.  
2.15.   The representative of Senegal  associated  her delegation with the statement  by Uganda on 
behalf of the LDC Group.  Senegal ha d always considered  that, while regulation was necessary for 
consumer protection and the realisation of  other public policy objectives , it could also constitute an 
obstacle to market access for foreign suppl iers, especially those of LDC s. That was why the 
operationalisation of the services Waiver was of  fundamental importance  for Senegal,  as it aimed to 
fully capitalize on the preferences granted by notifying M embers, to which Senegal expressed its 
deepest gratitude.  
2.16.   She emphasised that her Trade Minister, H.E. Madame Aminata Assome Diatta, had intended 
to travel to  Geneva to  attend the dedicated session, but her engagements had prevented her from 
doing so. But she wished to convey, through the prese nce of the representative, the special 
importance that she accorded to the event  and to the review of the operation of the Waiver 
preferences . 
2.17.   In Jun e 2014, Senegal had identified four priority sectors  with real export potential , namely 
health services, IT  processing services , motion picture and video tape production  services . In order  
to be able  to fully analyse the preferences granted under the Waiver,  in January  2017 Senegal had 
received the support of the WTO Secretariat with  the organisation of a national technical assistance 
activity  on that issue.  
2.18.   The establishment of a w orking group dedicated to the analysis of the Waiver preferences 
granted would  soon deliv er its conclusions , which  Senegal would  disseminate to Members, and 
notably to preference -granting Members . Preliminary results of the working group indicated that  
there had been significant improvements for LDCs, but that the  expectations of LDCs as per their 
Collective Request , mainly on horizontal preferences, had to be better taken into account.  
2.19.   Senegal recalled that LDC s' expectations concerned  the elimination of all market access and 
national treatment  restrictions , including residency requirements imposed on  LDC professionals ; the 
elimination of any kind of restrictions regarding the recognition of professional qualifications and  the 
accreditation of business establishments from LDC s; the elimination of certain  categories of 
measures regarding visas, work and residence permits, especially those requiring  financial 
guarantees as pre-condition for the demand of visa s or work permit s.   
2.20.   In addition to the  regulatory constraints that considerably increase d the cost of doing business 
for LDC service suppliers, there were a series of additional difficulties related to the supply -side 
capacit y of LDC suppliers , which frequently damage d the international competitiveness  of LDC s and 
limited their commercial potential.  While Senegal acknowledged th at there was a great deal of  
development potential in services trade,  this was hindered by a certain number of constraints , mainly  
the lack of  knowledge about  the actual  significance  of different service subsectors, the export 
markets , the different actors involved  or the investment opportunities . Those were the kind of 
constraints that Senegal aimed to address  via the formulation of a national strategy for the 
development of  services  export s which was being finalised at that juncture. That strategy was based 
on, and aimed to comple ment, work done  domestically  in the area of services, such as the Diagnostic 
Trade Integration Studies (DTIS)  carried out by the Enhanced Integrated Framewo rk in October 
2013, the economic analysis of services , for which Senegal had received support from the European 
Union and to whom it wished to express its gratitude, and the study on Business Process Outsourcing 
services , on which a strategy had been built  and validated that year . 
2.21.   The operationalisation of the LDC Waiver had to go hand in hand with the implementation of 
strategies aimed at strengthening national capacities in regard of service supply. Senegal was 
convinced that t he increased  participation o f LDCs in services trade had to be treated like a 
development policy tool, as a way of bridging the infrastructure gap between developed and low -
income countries.  S/C/M/140  
 
- 9 - 
 
  2.22.   In that regard, she recalled that the Bali Ministerial Decision underline d the need for enhanced 
technical assistance and capacity -building to help LDCs benefit from the operationalization of the 
Waiver. It also called for s pecial focus to be directed towards the delivery of targeted and coordinated 
technical assistance aimed at strengthening the domestic and export services capacity of LDCs, 
making optimal use of existing aid -for-trade channels such as the EIF and the technical assistance 
and capacity -building work of rele vant international institutions.  
2.23.   She concluded by noting that the working group she had previously mentioned was going to 
continue working on specific technical assistance projects on the basis of the opportunities and 
constraints that had been identified by consulting with services exporters. Once it had been finalised, 
Senegal would share with Members the results of that work and hoped to be able to continue to 
count on their support, and in particular on that of its technical and financial partners.  
2.24.   The representative of Mali wished to thank China,  who had made it possible for Mali's 
delegates to attend  meeting s, France , the Netherlands  and all Members that welcome d Mali's interns  
and students , and those Member s who helped train Malians.   
2.25.   Mali faced  a number of problems. A significant proportion of its territory was under Jihadi 
occupation and this had created  tensions within the country. According to UNICEF , 920 schools had 
closed because of the Jihadist movement,  and the previous week  there had been two more cases. 
School s were closed, teachers were kidnapped, books and notebooks were burned and that was an 
impediment to development.  
2.26.   There was also a problem with respect to tourism , as had been stressed at the workshop the 
previous day. The young peop le in the Dogon or in Tombouctou who were tourist guides were being 
forced into the Jihadist movement or join ed the movement  because  their famil ies were threatened. 
The northern part of the country simply ha d no public  service s, nor did the south, and ther e were 
no education o r health services. As a result, there were extremely high numbers of internally 
displaced people ; Bamako had  had to welcome many people, and she wished to thank Burkina Faso, 
Niger and other neighbouring countries wh ich had welcomed re fugees.  
2.27.   Mali was a landlock country of over 1.2 million square kilometres, with  no transport services 
to export . It did export computer services,  but production costs were very high  because, as  a 
landlock country , electricity and fibreoptic services were  very expensive  and this limited its suppliers ' 
competitive ness. It was encouraging to learn about the success of Myanmar and Bangladesh in 
exporting computer services, but unfortunately Mali 's constraints mean t that it was not a services 
exporter.  
2.28.   There was an additional problem. In order to attend the workshop held the previous day, her 
colleague, Ms. Cissé, had only gotten her visa  the day before she was due to travel. The Waiver was 
only good on paper if, in spite of funding to attend a workshop, a  visa was not  grante d. She was not 
asking for  a free visa : if someone could pay for their air ticket , they could  pay US$ or EUR 100 for 
a visa. The problem was that the visa was simply not granted ; even when some one came to attend 
an official WTO  meeting , it was difficult to get a visa . The Waiver was important, but it did not seem 
to have an impact on the ground, and it was essential to make sure that it did happen. One of Mali 's 
national Director s had been unable to attend a meeting that he needed to  and that was insulting  
and humiliating. Those were fundamental issues.  
2.29.   The representative of Malawi  echoed the statements by Uganda, Senegal and Mali about the 
challenges related to obtaining a visa, which were also applicable to  Malawi and which put LDC 
suppliers at a competitive disadvantage. During the workshop, his delegation had learnt that there 
were many countries and organisations offering capacity -building workshops to help LDC s with 
services data collection and he called  on the Secretariat to provide more information on how LDCs 
might have  access to those initiatives . 
2.30.   The representative of Vanuatu  wished to share some recent information on how it had been 
benefi tting from the Waiver  and to highlight some aspects that it found  warrant ed greater  effort s.  
2.31.   The tourism sector h eld a crucial place in Vanuatu's  national st rategy towards development. 
In 2017 , approximately 65% of Vanuatu 's export s were in the tourism  sector , which highlighted  its 
economic importance. In terms of facilitating and analysing the strength of th e sector, issues  like S/C/M/140  
 
- 10 - 
 
  transit fees and preferred destination status  could assist Vanuatu's domestic service suppliers in 
increasing their participation in  world services  export s and strengthening their performance . In that 
sense , he thank ed China for the preference it had granted. Other service s sectors of importance to 
Vanuatu were transport, ICT, education  and financial services, as per WTO data.  
2.32.   Finally,  he under scored the importance of timely an d accurate Wavier notification s from 
Members , to ensure that the barriers  identified by  LDC suppliers were removed , thereby providing 
greater market access  and allowing LDC to fully reap the benefits  granted under the Waiver . As the 
2019 World Trade Report indicate d, the  service sector ha d become a key component of international 
trade . In order to better understand the  importance and  impact of th at phenomen on, it was essential 
that sufficient data and information was collected, d isseminated and analysed to allow the full 
potential of th e sector to deliver on development.  
2.33.   The representative of Panama  said that her  delegation  understood and w as familiar with the 
asymmetries that LDC faced. After an extensive analysis of its sectoral legislation , taking precisely 
into account the sectors which LDC s had indicated as of interest in terms of preferential treatment , 
in 2017  Panama had submitted  its notification  of preferences under the Waiver , in which it had 
offered actual  preferential treatment in favour of  services and service suppliers from LDC s.  
2.34.   Panama had granted preferences  that went beyond  the commitments  scheduled  under  the 
GATS and its applied regime , with the goal of strengthening the services  export offer of LDC s. 
Panama 's preferences  concerned computer and related services ; rental/leasing  services without 
operators ; other  business  service s, notably personnel placement  and supply services , maintenance 
and repair of rail transport equipment, building -cleaning services, photographic services, packaging 
services  and printing and publishing services  (except printing of national written media) ; tourism  
and travel -related services; recre ational,  cultural and sporting services ; rail transport services and 
auxiliary services related to all modes of transport.  
2.35.   Her delegation was of the view that granting th ose preferences had contributed to improv ing 
exports from LDC, also increasing their e conomic diversification and structural change. Panama 
underscored  that its preferences had been granted  in sectors which LDC had indicated were of 
interest  to them .  
2.36.   Panama understood that  measures might be needed to permit LDCs to take advantage of the 
preferences notified, in order for those preferences to result in actual benefits . It was necessary to 
increase awareness  of the preferences  notified, to  permit service suppliers to acquire a more 
extensive knowledge of the market access opportunities availa ble. Her delegation was of the view 
that it w as necessary to continue with the identification of service sectors in which LDC suppliers 
had a comparative advantage , in order to improve their supply capacity,  as well as to address other 
issues, such as  reforms of LDC regulatory frameworks in order to reduce existing barriers.  
2.37.   Panama was proud to collaborate with the LDC s and called upon them to make use of the 
Waiver preferences as a means to provide for significant trade opportunities.  
2.38.   The representative of Zambia  joined previous speakers in supporting the intervention of the 
Ambassador of Togo,  on behalf of the Ambassador of Uganda,  at the opening  of the workshop. The  
intervention had recalled  the journey that had led  the LDC Group to the dedicated session.  
2.39.   Trade in services ha d emerged as a new frontier for promoting sustainable growth and 
development in developing countries and ha d become the most dynamic element of international 
trade, growing more quickly than trade  in goods. The sector account ed for two -thirds of global output 
and slightly less than half of world employment.  
2.40.   LDCs were becoming active in services trade. This was important for econom ic diversification, 
employment and Zambia 's industrial development. Services ha d grown as a percentage of GDP , and 
Zambia 's services share was 64%.  The services sector provide d key inputs into the production and 
trade of all products, playing an important role in global value chains. For this reason, promoting 
efficiency in the services sector was essential for catalysing the growth of other sectors, thereby 
contributing to econ omic development.  S/C/M/140  
 
- 11 - 
 
  2.41.   The GATS provide d the legal ground  rules for international trade in services, allowing WTO 
Members the flexibility to open their markets to foreign competition to the extent of their choice.  
Zambia was actively participating in trade in services negotiations under the African Continental Free 
Trade Area (AfCFTA), the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the Common Market 
for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and  the Tripartite Free Trade Area as part of national 
efforts to ex pand markets and to enhance benefits from regional integration.  
2.42.   Zambia 's National Trade Policy and National Export Strategy of 2018 emphas ised the 
importance of services trade and identifie d supporting the development of "services exports , 
particularly in  the tourism sector as well as other potential sectors " as one of the policy objectives, 
alongside the development of a vibrant domestic services sector and an enabling regulatory 
environment to support further investments.  
2.43.   The services sector was very imp ortant to the Zambian economy. Available WTO data showed  
that tourism exports rank ed highest among its services exports to the EU, at 45.8%, followed by 
distribution services at 30.2%, financial services at 10.6%, telecommunications, computer and 
audio -visual services at 5% , with additional  exports in transport, recreational/cultural services, 
educational, health services, other business and professional services.    
2.44.   Zambia  also recognize d the challenges of obtaining data and called for  more support to 
expan d on the good work done by the WTO Secretariat , develop its export and import statistics and 
acquire more information on its export destination markets.  Zambia  also note d that its exports 
happened  across all modes of supply, led by mode 1 at 48.3%, followed by m ode 2 at 45.8%, 
mode 3 at 5% and mode 4 at 0.9 %.  
2.45.   The service  sector ha d witnessed increased FDI inflows and significant growth in the recent 
past because of reforms undertaken  and was now c ontributing significantly to job creation  and 
income generation . It was also a major input into the production and export of goods and services. 
Growth ha d been propelled by the opening up of the economy and  of FDI inflows.  
2.46.   The sector ha d exhibited potent ial to promote sustainable economic growth despite Zambia 
at that time being a net services importer. In 2013, services imports had amounted to US$1,460 
million , compared to US$585 million in export receipts. Trade in services ha d grown at a slow pace , 
with available data revealing that Zambia 's services imports were dominated by transport, travel 
and business services.  
2.47.   Even in the immediate context of regional integration, the LDC Waiver could offer a 
complementary tool, namely in cases where there was readiness to grant limited preferences to 
weak exporters only, hence not to all RTA partners ; where there was hesitation or insecurity as to 
whether a facilitation measure w ould work and not cause damage, so that the flexibility to retract a 
preference under the Waiver was welcome; or where the implementation of regional measures 
depend ed on cooperation that m ight have  been delayed, so that a unilateral measure under the 
Waiver could  be a useful way to make provisional progress.  
2.48.   The case of Zambia ma de clear that regional services integration was often the most 
promising avenue for progressive integration and liberalisation, not least because it could facilitate 
and integrate regulatory coordination and cooperation.  
2.49.   Zambia was thus well -advised to have  had a double strategy: having advance d the regional 
agenda forcefully, while having kept the Waiver closely in view as an important tool in the toolbox. 
When formulating specific demands and presenting them to trading partners, t he Waiver should 
always be considered as a complementary or alternative option to the often bigger, more intensive 
regional integration tools.  
2.50.   As the operationalisation of the LDC Waiver was a standing item on the agenda of the Council , 
Zambia  wished to express appreciation to the cooperating partners for the ir longstanding support to 
its country 's development efforts through the promotion of trade in services as a means of economic 
development . Zambia called on WTO Members to undertake capacity -building m easures that would 
enable LDC suppliers to take advantage of preferential treatment notified under the Waiver.   S/C/M/140  
 
- 12 - 
 
  2.51.   Zambia was a "landlocked land of opportunity " for services and services exports. The booming 
of the mining sector was translating into opportuni ties for services, including direct services exports 
in the four modes of supply.  
2.52.   Challenges encountered by Zambia in the context of accessing export markets were those 
common to many LDCs. Most of those  challenges  were not being addressed by the response  of WTO 
Members to the Waiver until then . The main reason was that most trading partners, including for 
services exports, ha d not responded to the call for preference programmes for LDC services and 
service providers.  
2.53.   While the primary expectation of preferences was from developed Members and developing 
Members  in a position to do so, unilateral preferences for LDCs c ould have been usefully considered 
and granted by all WTO Members, including LDCs themselves. This applie d even in the context of 
progressive regional integration, as in the case of Zambia, which was involved in at least four 
regional processes covering services (SADC, COMESA, Tripartite and AfCFTA).  
2.54.   Zambia  encourage d Members to add more preferences removing procedural and regulatory 
barriers to its suppliers entering markets in developed market. Zambia  also stress ed the need for 
recognition of the qualifications  of professionals who were competitive. Consumers in othe r markets 
placed high value on Zambia 's service suppliers. Some of the procedural and regulatory barriers 
were reflected in Section s B and C of the LDC Collective Request , to which Zambia had contributed. 
Costs and time delays to obtain visas, hurdles to o btain work permits and other licenses to supply 
services should  be reduced for all LDCs.  
2.55.   Zambia  encourage d more understanding and exchange of information among all the 
Membership to work towards  ensur ing that LDCs were able to benefit from the  Waiver  preferences 
and building supply -side support to services sectors and trade.  Zambia recognise d the need to work 
towards increasing competition and push ing for a strong regulatory base of domestic services 
reform s in the quest to operationalise the Waiver.  
2.56.   To pr omote the services agenda, it was essential to build a higher degree of awareness, at 
business and at government level, of the factors that impact ed local competitiveness and how to 
influence them. There was a need to improve understanding of both the fund amental dissimilarities, 
and interrelationships, between goods and services trade, as well as the specific needs of services 
SMEs to perform better in international markets.  
2.57.   The LDC share in world services exports was still only 0.5%. Better integration i nto the global 
services economy require d action not only on the demand side, in the form of market preferences, 
but also domestic action on the supply side.  
2.58.   The representative of Brazil  recalled  that in 2017 his delegation had notified  25 preferences 
for LDCs under the Waiver. He highlighted the importance of technical cooperation , capacity -building 
and training as indirect tools for the creation of a sound business environment for the development 
and promotion of LDCs services exports.  
2.59.   He shared some information on the Brazilian experience regarding capacity -building and 
institutional strengthening in developing countries, especially LDCs. Available  data from the 2014 -
2016 Report on Brazilian Cooperation for International Development show ed that Brazil had spent 
US$200 million per year specifically on bilateral South -South technical cooperation (not including 
multilateral cooperation) mainly addressing health  services , environmental services, agriculture 
services (including Cotton -4 projec ts) and education  services . Regarding education, Brazil had 
granted more than 5 '000 graduate, Master and PhD scholarships in fields such as information 
technology, health, tropical diseases, agriculture and environment services. All the top six 
beneficiari es were LCDs, namely Mozambique, Guinea -Bissau, Angola, Benin, the Democratic 
Republic of the Congo and Haiti.  
2.60.   Following up on comments from the representative  of Senegal on one of the main challenges 
faced by LDCs in tak ing advantage of the preferences granted under the Waiver, namely the lack of 
information or access to investment opportunities, he encouraged LDCs to participate in the Joint 
Statement Initiative on Investment Facilitation for Development, whose  main objective was exactly 
to address, in a future WTO legal framework, th at kind of concern. In its national system for S/C/M/140  
 
- 13 - 
 
  facilitating foreign investment, Brazil ha d established a single electronic window and an ombudsman 
that were valuable tools for helping SMEs access the Brazilian market. In th at regard, Brazil ha d 
already concluded 16 investment facilitation agreements with developing countries in Africa, Asia 
and Latin America.  
2.61.   The representative of China  thank ed particularly the LDC s for having shared their experience 
and the challenges  faced  in developing their services export industry. China also thank ed the WTO 
Secretariat for the successful organization of  the workshop , a very informative and valuable event 
which had provid ed good guidance to the better and further implementation of the Waiv er.  
2.62.   China ha d been an active participant and contributor under  the Waiver. In recent years, China 
had been taking concrete steps to fulfil the commitments made by President X i Jinping at the 2015 
UN Sustainable Development Summit, including further libera lizing services sectors for the benefit 
of LDCs and further enhanc ing capacity -building for LDCs.  
2.63.   From the presentation given by the Secretariat representative at the workshop , one could  see 
that tourism and related services were of utmost importance to LD Cs. Therefore, China 's intervention 
would first focus on th at sector.  
2.64.   Tourism was a service sector where many LDCs had a competitive edge and strong export 
interest. As part of the preferences it had notified under the Waiver , China  would " enable more 
interested LDC Members to acquire Authorized Destination Status (ADS) " and "enhance its 
assistance to LDCs in relation to construction of the infrastructures essential to tourism services. 
These infrastructures include d hotels, scenic spots, roads, railway s, ports and telecommunication 
networks ". To fulfil th ose commitments, China ha d been making continuous efforts,  as the instances 
that followed demonstrated .  
2.65.   Over previous  years, China ha d provided substantial assistance in the construction of airports 
in many LDCs , including Nepal, Sierra Leone and Liberia,  and in the  construction of roads and bridges 
in many LDCs , including Cambodia, Myanmar, Ethiopia and Niger.   
2.66.   China ha d become the biggest source of overseas tourists in LDCs and the ADS regime had 
played an important role in promoting tourism in various LDCs. The ADS regime establishe d bilateral 
cooperation frameworks on group tourism visa s and facilitate d tourism agencies in their  organiz ation 
of tour groups to beneficiary countries and regions. Since 2011, 20 countries or regions had been 
added to the ADS list, among which 7 were LDCs. Altogether, 35 LDCs ha d acquired the status of 
ADS. 
2.67.   Recent years had witnessed rapid growth of Chinese tourists to LDCs. In the absence of 
complete data, China  wished to share a country -specific example. According to Cambodian statistics, 
in the first half of 2019,  1.2 million Chinese tourists had visited Cambodia, having grown 3-fold since 
2016. China represent ed more than a third of the total  number of  foreign tourists to Cambodia, and 
Cambodia had ranked 8th in the "most favourable  tourism destination " for Chinese tourists.  
2.68.   As many Members ha d pointed out, the LDC services Waiver itself w ould not work 
automatically, and in order to bring real benefit s to LDCs, there was more work to be done beyond 
simply providing market access. It was also the case for the previous  example. Several other 
important factors had contributed to the rapid growth o f Chinese tourists to Cambodia.  
2.69.   First, with rapid economic development, outbound tourism had grown quickly in recent years . 
The total number of China 's outbound tourists/trips had reached 149.7 million, registering a 130% 
growth compared to 2011. Th at growing demand had brought great opportunities to all Members, 
including LDCs.  
2.70.   Second, China and Cambodia had worked closely together under the Belt  & Road Initiative 
and other mechanisms and had made remarkable contribution s to the infrastructure in Cambodi a, 
including infrastructure related to tourism. China  had helped Cambodia finalize its No.6 Express way 
Project in June 2018, reducing the trip from Phnom Penh to Si am Reap, a famous tourist destination 
in Cambodia,  from 8 hours to only 4 hours . This had greatly facilitated the travel between the two 
cities for tourists .  S/C/M/140  
 
- 14 - 
 
  2.71.   Third, the efforts of Cambodia to promote  its tourism market had been  admirable. The 
Cambodian Government had started to provide e-Visas and visa s-upon-arrival for Chinese tourists 
in 2014.  The Cambodian government  had also made remarkable progress in improving the tourism 
and security environment, thus  facilit ating the rapid growth of its tourism sector.  
2.72.   China w ould always be a reliable friend to other developing countries, and in particular LDCs, 
and was ready to share the opportunities brought by its development with other Members. The case 
of the tourism sector in Cambodia was only one example, and China  was ready  to continue to work 
with LDCs, with a view to help ing them build a more robust and inclusive services industry in the 
future.  
2.73.   Turning to data on technical assistance and capacity -building , the representative indicated 
first, that t o enhance human resourc es development and cooperation China ha d held nearly 160 
technical assistance  activities on trade in services since 2015. Those technical assistance  activities 
had focused on areas such as tourism, hotel management, distribution and IP protection, and 4 '400 
officials and technical staff from developing countries, mainly LDCs, had benefited from th ose 
program mes. 
2.74.   Second, China had worked with International Organizations to provide assistance under its 
South -South Cooperation Assistance Fund. China had worked  with the WTO on several program mes, 
such as  a study on multilateral investment facilitation  or on improv ing access to trade and market 
access statistics databases. China had also worked with  the International Civil Aviation Organization 
to hold training program mes for senior civil aviation officials from developing Members. Those 
program mes had positive ly contribut ed to enhancing the competitive edge of beneficiaries in trade 
in services.  
2.75.   China  underscored that it was ready to continue to contribut e actively to  the effective 
implementation of the Waiver. China  encourage d Members to exchange best practices in th at regard, 
with a view to providing more effective support for LDCs to further participa te in, and benefit from , 
global services trade.  
2.76.   The representative of Thailand  recalled  that Thailand was one of the 24 Members that ha d 
notified  preferences in favour of LDCs under the Waiver . Thailand 's Waiver  preferences , notified on 
17 February 2016 , grant ed LDCs service suppliers greater access to the Thai market in 6 sectors, 
namely camping and camp site services, theme parks and amusement parks, foreign language 
tuition services, holiday centre  and home services, maritime agency services, and mariti me cargo 
handling.  
2.77.   Thailand ha d made available on the website of its Department of Trade Negotiations 
(www.dtn.go.th ) the information on the preferential treatment result ing from  Thailand 's Waiver 
notification, in an attempt to promote awareness and encourage relevant stakeholders to make use 
of the market opportunities available.  
2.78.   To provide a clearer picture of the operationalization of Thailand 's preferences , the 
representative  share d the followin g information . First, on the utilization of preferences under the 
Waiver, in the absence of statistical data at the relevant sub-sector al level, Thailand ha d relied upon 
the Department of Business Development 's database on economic activities measured acco rding to 
Thailand 's Standard Industrial Classification (TSIC). The data illustrate d that LDCs mode 3 service 
export s to Thailand originated  from Nepal, Cambodia, Uganda and Mali, in language learning 
services , with an investment value of US $86'700, from Nepal and Myanmar in hotels and resorts 
services with an investment value of US$ 2 .5 million , and from Nepal in guest house services with 
an investment value of US$ 33'300. 
2.79.   As pointed out at the workshop  held the day before , LDCs tend ed to trade services regionally . 
The above -mentioned data also demonstrate d that LDC services exports to Thailand were mostly 
from those LDCs within the region. Th at further underscore d the potential role that the Waiver could 
play in helping LDCs, especiall y neighbo uring ones, to increase their share in services trade at the 
regional level.  
2.80.   Second, Thailand ha d actively engaged in technical assistance and capacity -building 
program mes at the bilateral level, the sub -regional level , such as  in the Greater Meko ng Sub -S/C/M/140  
 
- 15 - 
 
  Regional (GMS), the Ayeyawady –Chao Phraya –Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (ACMECS), 
and the Mekong –Lancang Cooperation (MLC), as well as at the regional level such as in ASEAN.  
Thailand ha d been working closely with International Organizations,  such as the Mekong Institute, 
the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank and the Unite d Nations, as well as in collaboration 
with other trading partners such as China, Japan, the European Union, the United  States and 
Australia in undertaking assistance fo r those in need.  
2.81.   Thailand 's experience of technical assistance and capacity -building include d training courses, 
seminars, workshops, dispatching experts, business -matching activities and scholarship 
program mes. In tourism service , which was one of the key sector s under Thailand 's Waiver  
preferences , workshops had been organized for Cambodia, Lao  PDR and Myanmar on "Way towards 
Sustainable Community -based Ecotourism " in November 2018, and on "Tourism Ethics: Roles of Key 
Stakeholders in Responsible Tourism Development " in January 2019.   
2.82.   In addition, technical assistance and capacity -building program mes provided by Thailand in 
recent years also cover ed boarder areas relating to trade, investment,  the digital economy and SME  
development. The beneficiaries of th ose program mes include d Bangladesh, Lao  PDR and Nepal for 
the Scholarship in Microfinance for Small and Medium -sized Enterprises Development; Lao  PDR for 
the Training Course in Sustainable Transport and Logistics Planni ng and Management; Nepal and 
Bhutan for the Regional Workshop on E -commerce and Emerging Digital Trade Enabling Agenda.  
2.83.   To conclude, Thailand reiterate d its commitment to the effective operationalization of the 
Waiver with the aim of support ing LDC partici pation in international services trade toward s the 
achievement of national development goals. Thailand w ould continue its effort s in providing demand -
driven assistance in order to strengthen LDC capacity in using the preferences granted  to them  and 
encoura ged LDCs to make use of the preference benefits available.  
2.84.   The representative of India took the opportunity to congratulate the Secretariat, the full WTO 
Membership and especially the LDC Members on the organisation of the very useful and timely 
workshop held as part of the dedicated session to r eview of the operation of the Waiver p references. 
India recognised that LDCs needed special focus and attention and wholeheartedly supported 
information -sharing sessions in the context of the Waiver, both in the wor kshop that had brought 
together all relevant stakeholders and had resulted in very rich discussions, as well as during the 
formal session of the  Council . 
2.85.   She provided background  information on  the preferences that India  had notified . India had 
notified preferential treatment in favour of LDC  services and service suppliers with effect from 
1 December 2015. The preferential treatment had been made available in sectors and modes of 
supply that were of particular export interest to LDCs, as set out in the LDC Collective Request. The 
details of the preferences granted were contained in document S/C/N/833 , dated 30 September 
2015.  
2.86.   India had offered preferential treatment in the following areas: visa -related issues , where it 
had waive d the visa fees for LDC applicants seeking Indian business and employment visas. India 
was the only WTO Member wh o had waive d visa fees under the Waiver. Th at preference  had been 
very well received by the LDC  Group. She recalled  that, according to Uganda 's then Minister of Trade, 
Industry and Cooperatives, Amelia Anne Kyambadde, onerous application fees for visas, licenses 
and residence and work permits for many LDC  nationals  were tantamount to one month 's salary for 
their families. Also, there was a severe loss i f the visa was not granted and the fees were not 
returned. Th at statement had very clearly signified the value of th e preference granted by India, 
especially for service suppliers who were natural persons. The then LDC Coordinator and Uganda 's 
Ambassador C hristopher Onyanga Aparr had remarked that the  visa waiver was a really good thing 
if India d id it in practice. The representative of India stated that, four years later, India had done it 
and would continue with it for the full duration of the Waiver.   
2.87.   India had  also notified  technical assistance and capacity -building in several areas.   
2.88.   Under market access, India 's preferences  had been made in various sectors and subsectors 
and access granted  for a number of categories of mode 4 professionals from LDCs, including foreign 
language teachers, chefs, sportspersons, tourist guides with a special quota for LDCs, tour operators, 
consultants, engineers and computer professionals, installers and servicers and without the S/C/M/140  
 
- 16 - 
 
  requirements of Labour Market Tests (LMT). She underlined that such access  without LMTs was 
critical in order to make the preferences  commercially meaningful and more predictable and certain. 
Access for m any of th ose professions had been granted  by India for the first time in any trade 
agreement.  
2.89.   India had also offered very liberal, GATS + market access  openings in several service sectors , 
such as engineering services, management consulting services, building cleaning services, packaging 
services, convention services, entertainment, cultural and spor ting services, hotels and other lodging 
services, travel agencies and tour operator services, maritime transport and maritime auxiliary 
services, with full commitments in modes 1 and 2 for most sectors and with 100% foreign equity 
participation  under mode 3. In computer and related services, India had offered preferences at the 
2-digit level (CPC 84) considering the rapid technological advancement in th e field. 
2.90.   Subsequently, she addressed the critical issue of the implementation and utilization of th ose 
preferences by LDC  service suppliers.  On the waiver of visa fees for all LDC applicants, the 
representative reported that her delegation  had received information from Indian  Missions in 44 
LDCs. As per  the information received, during the previous  3 years ( i.e. 2016, 2017 and 2018), a 
total of 48 '602 LDC applicants had benefitted from the waiver of visa fees. The representative 
restated  that India was the only Member  who had offered a waiver of visa fees, a very significant 
and commercially meaningful concessi on. India,  itself having a strong interest in mode 4 , had 
realised that high visa fees were a real market access barrier. The Indian business community had 
been at the receiving end of high visa fees by some of its key trading partners. Having felt the pinch, 
India had especially wanted to ensure that LDC  suppliers  wanting to travel to India for business 
would not face th at barrier.  
2.91.   With respect to India 's offer on technical assistance and capacity -building, the representative 
stated that th at preference had been effectively utilised by LDCs . Since the prefer ence had been 
notified, approximately 50 per cent of more than 10 '000 training slots of India 's ITEC programme 
had been utilised by LDCs.  
2.92.   India also had taken a number of other novel initiatives in th at regard. India had launched 
the e -VidyaBharti (Tele -education) and the e -ArogyaBharti (Tele -medicine) Projects  (e-VBAB) on 
7 October 2019. The tele -education portal would provide access for African students to more than 
500 courses in various disciplines , including engineering and technology, education, math ematics 
and sciences, humanities and arts and teacher training. The portal would also offer 15 '000 
scholarships to Africans to pursue undergraduate and postgraduate courses from premier  Indian  
public and private universities.  
2.93.   In addition, many of India 's sectoral organizations , like the Institute of Chartered Accountants 
of India (ICAI), the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the insurance regulator (IRDA), the National Bank 
for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), had been undertaking efforts to provide p riority 
to LDC participants in training and capacity -building efforts. India had not charge d course fees from 
LDC applicants for most of those training programmes.  
2.94.   With respect to market access, India indicated that LDC services exports to India had more 
than doubled since the notification of India's preferences for LDC services and service suppliers. 
Also, while India had had a surplus in trade in services vis-à-vis LDCs during 2014 -15, the position 
had reversed in 2018 -19, with LDCs having a services trad e surplus with India.  
2.95.   On suggestions for better utilization of the Waiver preferences by LDCs, India state d that 
some training and capacity -building programmes, especially designed for LDCs, in areas such as 
management consultancy services as part of India's notified preferences , could not be conducted 
due to inadequate response from the LDCs themselves. For instance, the Consultancy Development 
Centre (CDC) , in collaboration with the Centre for WTO Studies (CWTOS) , had launched 5 such 
capacity buildin g programmes, two in 2015 -16 and three in 2016 -17. However, th ose programmes 
could not be conducted due to the low level of response which had not fulfil led the minimum 
participation requirement.  
2.96.   In view of th at issue , India felt  that it might  be more usef ul if the LDCs could themselves 
identify areas in which capacity -building assistance was needed. India remained committed to 
positively considering requests from LDC s for any programmes targeting specific sectors and service S/C/M/140  
 
- 17 - 
 
  suppliers where there was a per ceived requirement for training and capacity -building. In short, while 
India had several on -going schemes related to training and capacity -building for LDCs, it was keen 
to do more.  
2.97.   As concluding remarks, she emphasised that India had offered concessions both in trade in 
goods and services in the true letter and spirit of the development agenda of the Doha Round. India 
hoped that their offer in trade in goods , under the Duty -Free Tariff Preferences (DFTP) Scheme , and 
the LDC Services Waiver helped LDCs inc rease their share in world trade in goods as well as in 
services.   
2.98.   The representative of Australia  thanked Uganda on behalf of the LDC Group and Secretariat 
for the organisation of the workshop and the formal dedicated session of the Counicl . She highlight ed 
that it had been very useful to hear a broad range of views , from experts to notifying Members to, 
importantly , LDC service suppliers. Furthermore, it had been  encouraging that so many Members 
had notified comprehensive preferences.  
2.99.   Australia 's notifica tion focused on preferences under GATS Article XVI, in accordance with the 
Waiver Decision , and responded to specific LDC requests in the areas of tourism, transport, ICT, 
professional services, other business services and services not included elsewhere , including specific 
preferences for contractual service suppliers.   
2.100.   Building on the significant progress under the Waiver, and as highlighted by a number of 
speakers at the workshop, she said that Members should focus on what could  be done to help LDCs 
utilise market access opportunities and benefit fully from  the preferences notified under the Waiver, 
including by addressing domestic capacity and supply -side constraints identified by  the LDCs 
themselves. However, th at was not to ignore the benefits of the Waiver as a key tool , and Australia 
encouraged Members who ha d not yet notified preferences to do so.  
2.101.   The representative of Australia emphasised that it was necessary to look beyond the Waiver: 
that would include  considering  how Members could  complement market access opportunities with 
Aid for Trade and targeted development assistance program mes. In th at respect, Australia noted 
that it regularly evaluated its activities to respond to req uests from LDCs.  
2.102.   The speakers at the workshop and the LDC Collective Request had also identified a number 
of domestic regulatory issues , including in home countries. She noted that discussions in  the open-
ended JSI negotiations  on services domestic regula tion, e-commerce and investment facilitation 
were directly relevant , including by providing a framework to discuss best practice s and assist LDC 
Members to address supply -side constraints. The domestic regulation open -ended discussions 
included a proposal for notifying Members to update their Waiver notifications to incorporate 
domestic regulation  disciplines. Australia encouraged LDCs to engage in th ose discussions to shape 
and take advantage of proposals specifically addressing their concerns.  
2.103.   Australia m entioned that speakers at the workshop had also highlighted the need for further 
co-operation among the LDCs themselves, which could take various forms. In th at regard, it was 
clear that data collection and analysis was a common problem among all Members. Australia also 
suggested explor ing options for improving recognition in accordance with GATS Article VII and 
seeking further market access gains in areas of LDC interest pursuant to GATS Article XIX.  
2.104.   To conclude, Australia thanked the LDCs for the work they had undertaken, starting with the 
LDC Collective Request , which had been a very useful, ongoing reference that outlined LDC services 
interests not just in the context of the Waiver but for negotiations more broadly.   
2.105.   The representative of Turkey  offered her delegation's sincere thanks to the LDC  Group , the 
Secretariat, all the various speakers and participants  for the very comprehensive and  informative 
workshop  held the previous day .  
2.106.   She wished to share information about the implementation of Tur key's Waiver notification. 
In its notificatio n, Turkey had  provide d market access opportunit ies to LDCs in sectors that LDCs 
had indicated were of interest in  their Collective Request , and, additionally, had provide d preferential 
treatment on  the movement of natural persons, as well as technical assistance and capacity -building.  S/C/M/140  
 
- 18 - 
 
  2.107.   With regard to  the e-visa system, more than 200'000  LDC citizens ha d applied for , and had 
obtained , visas on -line since the issuance of Turkey 's notification in 2015.   
2.108.   Another aspect in Turkey 's notification were the scholarship program mes and education 
opportunities . Turkey  believe d that those could contribute to support ing human capacity 
development by facilitating working procedures and granting scholarships in Turkey,  and could 
enhance the market access opportunities for LDCs.  
2.109.   The program me mechanism ensure d equal opportunity and ease of access, as the application 
was free of charge and could  be made through an on -line system , transparency in the selection 
proces s and no fixed country quotas for allocati ng the scholarships . The t otal number of grants 
provided to LDCs nationals through th at system ha d reached 10 '406. 
2.110.   Turkey  was of the view that  the Waiver was a good instrument to provide export 
opportunities in many fields to LDCs and encourage d Members who ha d not yet submitted  
notification s to do so , and aim to provide both market access opportunities as well as technical 
assistance and capacity -building prospects, in order to help LDCs benefit fully.  
2.111.   In addition to submitting  a notification  under the Waiver , Turkey  also encourage d Members 
to engage in assistance projects that aim ed to enhance  the trading capacity and physical and human 
infrastructure of LDCs, as Turkey  had presented  at the workshop  held the previous day . 
2.112.   She noted the strong relevance of the o pen-ended discussions on services domestic 
regulation to many issues that ha d been raised during the  workshop. The importance of good 
regulatory practices was a valid point for all Members, since transparency and good regulatory 
practices relating to licensing and qualification  requirements and technical standards play ed a crucial 
role in the effective  advancement of both domestic and global trade in services.  Turkey  encourage d 
LDCs to consider participatin g in the Joint Initiative  and to look at the disciplines as a small but 
useful tool to develop a trade -friendly enabling environment.   
2.113.   In the open -ended discussions on services domestic regulation, it was proposed that LDCs 
be only encouraged to apply the disciplines upon their graduation. The text  of the disciplines  also 
aimed to provide for technical assistance and capacity -building to strengthen the regulatory 
capacity -building of LDCs , and also include d a proposal for Members to apply domestic regulation  
disciplines to any of the preferences granted to LDCs.   
2.114.   The representat ive of  the Republic of  Korea  expressed his delegation's  appreciation to the 
LDC group and the Secretariat for organising  an extremely helpful and productive workshop. The 
workshop had underlined the importance of the service sector  in ushering in the growth potential 
for LDCs. Many panellists,  from academia, business and government agencies , had offered 
comprehensive presen tations of sector -by-sector analysis based on their experience in the field.  
2.115.   The workshop had shed light upon  the significance of nurturing  the capacity of exporting 
countries, and LDCs in th at case, so that they could enjoy the full benefit s of Waiver. I n that sense, 
priorit y should now be placed also on the suppl y-side, including to assist with access to finance, 
cross-border payment management, FDI and trade promotion strateg ies. All of those priorities 
should be addressed  in a more holistic manner, and  supply and demand should go in hand -in-hand.  
2.116.   With respect to the Waiver, Korea had notified preferential treatment which  had entered into 
effect in 2015. To elaborate, Korea had put forth preferential treatment covering , amongst others , 
additional mode 4  market access to contractual services providers in 10 areas , including instalment 
of industrial equipment or machines, consultancy services and professional engineering services , 
which reflect ed the interests set out in the LDC  Collective Request . Sector -specific preferential 
treatment  had also been granted in areas such as business services (rental/leasing, placement 
services of personnel); distribution services; tourism and travel -related services; recreational, 
cultural and sporting services; transport services; and maritime auxiliary services, a newly added 
sector.  
2.117.   Since Korea had not been able to track services trade based on LDC -disaggregated data, it 
had used instead import statistics grouped together as "others ", which provided for a metric of 
performance, albeit limited , of the operation of the W aiver. According to th at data, in 2015 import S/C/M/140  
 
- 19 - 
 
  of transport ation services had remained at US$ 2.9 billion , before increasing to  US$ 3.2 billion in 
2017 and US$ 3.6 billion  in 2018. Th at was not surprising given that transport ation service s had 
been the area where preferences  had been granted  only to LDCs. At the same time, Korea's 
transport ation services import s had seen  an overall decrease from most developed countries dur ing 
that timeframe. In addition, consulting services had also increased,  from US$ 2.9 billion in 2015 to 
US$ 3.04 billion in 2018.  
2.118.   While it was not certain  whether th ose numbers purely stemmed from  the Waiver 
preferences,  since country -by-country figures  were not available , Korea had still been able to note 
that the overall trend had been moving upwards in terms of services import s from LDCs in sectors 
where preferential treatment had been  offered. His delegation had found it very challenging  to locate  
not only statistics for LDCs but also LDC service providers pertinent to the preferential treatment  
granted . Therefore, Korea had not been able to conduct a qualitative analysis  of whether the Waiver 
preferences had been made best use of by those concerned.  
2.119.   Moving forward, Korea  wished to make  three suggestions . First, data collection with regard 
to services trade should be improved , to include country -specific and sector -specific figures for LDCs. 
Second,  both LDCs and their firms were encouraged to voice their interest s and concerns to the 
relevant agencies of notif ying Members , so that Members could  obtain a more complete  picture that 
went b eyond just  the numbers . Third, d omestic regulation was important  in the  services industry ; 
in that sense, Korea encouraged all Members , including LDCs , to take part in the discussion s under 
the relevant Joint Statement Initiative.  
2.120.   The representative of European Union thank ed the LDC Group and the Secretariat for 
organi sing that dedicated session of the Council  and the workshop  held the previous day , which had 
provided extremely useful insights and sharing of experience s, success stories as well as challenges 
that LDC  suppliers  were facing when trying to increase the ir participation in services trade and 
utilising the Waiver preferences .  
2.121.   She also thank ed the LDCs for all the efforts undertaken until then , notably the Collective 
Request  of 2015. In response to the LDC Collective Request , the European Union had  made a 
comprehensive notification  in 2015 that covered substantive preferences in all modes of suppl y and 
group of sectors that ha d been identified in the Collective Request , both for market access and 
national treatment , covering more than 155 services s ectors.  
2.122.   Like others, she also encourage d those Members who ha d not yet notified preferences to do 
so. But above all, the European Union  believe d that  it was extremely useful to continue the discussion 
on how LDCs could  better utilise the preferences alrea dy notified and to learn from the experience 
until then . As ha d also emerged from the various  interventions and the workshop, Members also 
needed to look beyond unilateral trade preferences to address the impediments the LDCs continue d 
to face to participa te in services trade and increas e their services  exports.  
2.123.   The 2019 World Trade Report state d that the it remain ed a challenge for LDCs to diversify 
services exports and to integrate into global services trade and th at was, among other things , due 
to infra structural constraints, educational and skills gap, lack of financial resources, and the digital 
gap. The workshop  had also underlined the importance of tailoring Aid for Trade and development 
instruments to support the LDCs and services trade specifically . The E uropean Union and its Member 
States remain ed the leading Aid for Trade donor , accounting for one third of global Aid for Trade 
spending , amounting  to EUR 14.5 billion in 2017 . Notably , since 2014 th at had also include d specific 
portfolios of commitments targeting services , and for the European Union  it remain ed important in 
the future to further respond to needs in the area of services in th at respect.  
2.124.   Another key issue that had already been mentioned, and  had also eme rged very clearly from 
the workshop, was the importance of domestic regulatory issues and environment for LDCs. The 
LDC Collective Request  had already  identified a number of domestic regulatory issues . There were 
three on -going initiatives in the WTO , on domestic regulation, investment facilitation and e -
commerce , that were directly relevant for LDCs but where LDCs remain ed underrepresented , which 
made it more difficult to assess the ir needs  in those initiatives. The refore, the  European Union  would 
very muc h encourage LDCs to participate in th ose discussions. She underlined that t he European 
Union  attach ed great importance to th ose initiatives being transparent and open to all WTO S/C/M/140  
 
- 20 - 
 
  Members. Understanding better the kind of needs and positions  of LDCs  in that context would be 
extremely useful.  
2.125.   The E uropean Union remain ed committed to continuing th e discussion , in view of a more 
efficient utilization of the preferences notified under the Waiver and seeing on how to increase overall 
LDC participation in  services trade. In th at respect , going forward it would be helpful to hear 
continuously from LDCs about their experiences and future needs , including for technical assistance 
and capacity -building.  
2.126.   The representative of United States thank ed the LDCs, the  WTO Secretariat, as well as the 
Chairman for organizing a very solid workshop the previous day . As the Geneva delegate at the 
time, he  had been involved since the beginning  in the Waiver discussion s that had led to the creation 
of the Waiver . At that time , his delegation had said that Members were sailing into unchartered 
waters with the Waiver;  Members had some experience  of waivers in the context of goods , but not 
in services. In that regard , he had  found the workshop extremely useful to help Members better 
understand the challenges fac ed by  LDC service suppliers, now that delegations had  some years of 
experience with the Waiver.  
2.127.   At the workshop, the United States had shared some of its technical as sistance and capacity -
building efforts to support the development of LDC service suppliers and the tools that were 
necessary to expand in services areas , such  as skills and IT. That was  just the tip of the iceberg ; 
there were a number of other efforts that  the United States  could have highlight ed in that regard.  
2.128.   The workshop had demonstrated that the issue of LDC services exports did require a holistic 
approach , and that approach was what was needed to further LDC services exports. In that regard, 
he echoe d what Zambia had said about  the Waiver being  a tool. It was complementary to other 
efforts to help LDCs , as the workshop  had illustrated when discussing  domestic regulatory 
constraints, supply -side constraints, including  for telecom infrastructure. His de legation would take 
back the wealth of information that had been  shared the previous day  through the very useful 
workshop. He had been particularly struck by the need for better statistics and data and that was 
something his delegation would  also be reflecting upon. The United States looked forward to 
continuing t o work with the LDCs and other WTO Members to  keep advanc ing that issue.  
2.129.   The representative of Japan  welcome d the intensive discussions held during the workshop 
and at that dedicated  CTS formal meeting  on the Waiver to  further integrat e LDC Members into 
global trade in services.  
2.130.   She highlighted that, during the workshop, Japan  had introduced its support program mes in 
the ICT/digital innovation area in Africa, including an ICT project in Rwanda, as an example of the 
engagement by Japan to increase  the export capacity of LDC in trade in services. Japan would 
continue to contribute , to facilitat e the integration of LDC Membe rs into global trade in services. At 
the same time, Japan emphasised that  it was  important to capture the reality o f the domestic  
constraints  faced by LDC service exporters through the provision of updated information , so that 
Members'  contributions could address the real problem s they faced . 
2.131.   The representative of Canada  thanked the LDC Group for their efforts and participation in 
the workshop, th at dedicated session, and ongoing interventions related to the importance of trade 
in servi ces for LDCs ' economic growth. Canada also acknowledged the key role of the Secretariat in 
that event.  
2.132.   The representative stated that the workshop had offered valuable insights into the current 
state of LDC services trade, particularly the experiences of LDC service suppliers, and where key 
opportunities and challenges existed for th ose suppliers. Many of the presentations had had a similar 
theme, in that supply -side constraints and the ability to simply "do business " might affect the ability 
of LDC servic e suppliers to capitalize on the notified preferences. Canada had  identified the latter as 
significant barriers.  
2.133.   It had been demonstrated that a sound regulatory framework could play an essential role in 
facilitating trade in services domestically and int ernationally. Therefore, Canada joined other 
Members in encouraging LDCs to participate in the JSI on domestic regulation. Th at initiative offered 
a concrete opportunity to engage in a discussion on best practices related to domestic regulatory S/C/M/140  
 
- 21 - 
 
  frameworks.  While it was important for Members to consider ways to facilitate services trade for 
LDCs beyond the Waiver, Canada also acknowledged LDCs ' interest in further market access 
opportunities. As a notifying Member, Canada echoed other Members ' sentiment in e ncouraging 
those Members who had not yet notified preferences to do so.  
2.134.   She also said that, as had been mentioned during  the workshop, LDC services trade was 
predominantly a regional activity. The workshop  sessions had left much to consider in terms of ho w 
a country like Canada, which was not geographically close to most LDCs, could  engage meaningfully 
on that topic.  
2.135.   To that end, Canada considered th ose discussions as being instrumental in informing how to 
construct programming related to services, and co ntemplated ways to better enable services trade 
with and between LDCs more broadly. She emphasised that the experiences, successes, and 
challenges that had been shared by the LDCs at the workshop and th at dedicated meeting  would 
assist Members going forwar d as they considered ways to further the integration of LDCs into global 
services trade.  
2.136.   That was why LDC -specific and sector -specific data would be very useful, to further inform 
potential programming. Canada acknowledged that th at data gap figure d into b roader data gaps 
across services trade, as had been mentioned during the workshop by multiple presenters, including 
by the Secretariat. Any work the Secretariat was considering on th at issue, including in collaboration 
with relevant international organizat ions, was likely to be viewed favourably by Canada.   
2.137.   The representative of Mexico  thank ed the LDC Group and the Secretariat for organising  the 
workshop and the speakers for the ir presentations , which had been very useful in allowing Members  
to understand the various issues faced by LDC  when it c ame to international trade in services. The 
interventions by LDC Members at that meeting had also  been very useful to enable Members to have 
a fuller understand ing the problems that LDC suppliers we re facing beyond just market access. A lot 
of those issues were in fact linked to regulatory matters , and numerous references had also been 
made to mode 4.   
2.138.   Like other Members who had intervened previously, Mexico had also  notified preferences in 
favour of  LDCs. The preferences it had granted sought to provide the best FTA treatment that Mexico 
had ever offered . The Waiver offered  a legal tool to provide certainty for that best FTA treatment  
granted to LDC  Members.  Her dele gation was  aware there was  still a long way to go  and that  a lot 
of effort  and work would need  to be carried out to ensure  that th ose preferences bec ame a reality . 
That was the reason why Mexico stood  ready to continue discussing, looking at different needs and 
tools that were required to make sure that LDCs could  make effective use of the preferences to 
increase their participation in international trade in services.  
2.139.   The representative of New Zealand  thanked all those involved in organising the excellent 
workshop held the previous day and that day's dedicated meeting.  New Zealand  was pleased to be 
among those Members who ha d notified services preference  in favour of LDCs under the Waiver , 
but, as vario us speakers ha d indicated, it also acknowledge d that more needed  to be done  beyond 
those preferences.  
2.140.   In that vein, he wished to  very briefly outline 3 examples of activities New Zealand was 
currently involved in with LDCs that were directly aimed at prom oting services trade , as a 
contribution to the conversation.  
2.141.   The first example was a  tourism support programme New Zealand was currently providing 
to Lao PDR. It aim ed to strengthen Lao PDR's tourism sector , through the inclusion of private sector 
partici pation and tourism services , by developing and promoting links between local handicraft 
service providers and tourism site operator s, and through them to tourists , and to offer assistance  
and services in tourism design management and decision -making , including capacity -building  in 
those fields for central and local government officials.  
2.142.   Continuing the tourism theme, New Zealand was currently also engaged in a Pacific Tourism 
Data Initiative with Niue, Sa moa, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. The initiative would  develop 
and implement cost -effective international visitor surveys and business confidence index surveys in S/C/M/140  
 
- 22 - 
 
  those Pacific Island countries. The surveys would  provide insights into industry performa nce and 
impacts.  
2.143.   Finally , and  moving away from the tourism sector, another program me that  New Zealand 
was involved in was the Business Link Pacific with Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and Samoa. It 
support ed local business advisory service providers to i mprove the quality and accessibility of their 
services to SMEs. Currently , within those markets , business advisory services were generally 
provided domestically, but the aim was to create a regional network that would  enable Pacific SMEs 
and business advis ory service providers to connect with in the wider Pacific region. The portal that 
would  enable that  was scheduled to have launched a couple of weeks earlier . 
2.144.   Finally, he joined other  Members  in noting New Zealand's  support for the domestic regulation 
and e -commerce JSIs and in encouraging LDCs to participate in th e same . From New Zealand 's 
perspective , the participation and views of LDC s in enunciating their needs and interests within those 
processes would be invaluable. 
2.145.   The representative of Uganda  reported that the contribution of services to Uganda's  GDP 
stood at 59 % in 2017, up from 54.7 % in 2008.  The main contributors to the strong growth of the 
services sector had been  tourism, distribution services and transpo rt services. Uganda ha d 
maintained a negative trade balance for the previous  five years (2014 -2018) and commercial and 
travel were the key export services.  
2.146.   All Members  were aware that services data collection was a daunting task . Uganda had 
experience d challenges in data collection related  lack of disaggregated data ; difficulties in integrating 
data from various sources to avoid duplication ; inconsistency of data ; and the fact that using 
different sources of data create d variance with regard to  accuracy, frequency, coverage, relevance 
and processing of data. Furthermore, persons and households ' surveys, and in particular border and 
labour force surveys, constitute d a major source for the production of mode 2 statistics. However, 
in the case of U ganda, such surveys had not been carried out  often.  
2.147.   She noted that t he tourism, ICT, and education sectors had significant export potential for 
Uganda, and she appreciate d Members  that had notified preference s in th ose sectors. Nonetheless,  
she observed t hose preferences were limited, with the exception of IT professional services. 
Uganda 's Trade Ministry 's engagements with private sector players had reveal ed continued 
difficulties  like those  recorded in the LDC Collective Request, as followed.  
2.148.   IT professi onals, both Independent Professionals and Contractual services suppliers , often 
needed to provide services to their clients but were constrained by the hurdles in visa/temporary 
permits acquisition processes. In some countries, there were local presence re quirements that ha d 
hindered Uganda 's services exports. Furthermore, attaining ISO certifications on quality 
management and information security were an expensive and very tedious process for Information 
Technology Enhanced Services companies from Uganda.  
2.149.   In the tourism sector, the denial of visas to select tourism destinations continue d to be a big 
challenge , as it denie d Uganda 's suppliers the opportunity to reach potential clients, especially during 
tourism trade shows/galas. Suppliers in th at area ha d also stressed the problem of middle men , 
especially in European destinations, who had prevent ed them from direct access to the European 
market.  
2.150.   The representative highlighted that Uganda ha d made, and would continue to make , efforts 
to address some of those challenges. In the National Policy on Services Trade , Uganda aim ed to 
improve export market access by developing strategies for Uganda n services and services suppliers 
to take advantage of the Waiver. According to the regulatory impact assessment , more Ugandan 
services were exported to regional markets , i.e. Kenya, Tanzania, South Sudan, Rwanda,  Burundi, 
South Africa, Botswana, Zambia and Malawi.  
2.151.   Furthermore, the Strategic Implementation Plan 2017 -2022 include d various activities , such 
as analysing  preferences notified to generate preference analysis reports as well as conducting 
studies for detailed market opportunities in preferential markets , sensitization of the business 
community on opportunities and how to take advantage of the Waiver, as well  as conducting capacity S/C/M/140  
 
- 23 - 
 
  assessments of domestic service s suppliers to generate capacity assessment reports , including 
competitiveness assessments.  
2.152.   Regarding linkages with the National Development Plan  (NDP) , the NDP 2010/11 -2014/15 
had been  developed with the overall goal to accelerate economic growth and reduce poverty. The 
NDP II 2015/16 -2019/20 had recognize d the role of selected service sectors in fostering socio -
economic development , including tourism, health, financial services (banking and insurance ), 
information technology enhanced services (ITES), creative industries and education services as key 
drivers for development.  
2.153.   In addition, the NDP II had prioritize d tourism as one of the five key growth sectors for 
Uganda.  Consequently , Uganda 's Governm ent had committed to providing the necessary 
infrastructure for tourism development. As part of the overall government al framework to expand 
access and use of ICT for development, NDP II had recognize d the importance of expanding the 
national backbone infr astructure to consolidate e -Government services and applications for the 
efficiency of services.  
2.154.   The Government of Uganda remain ed committed to investment in ICT research, innovation 
and human capital development. Furthermore, the NDP II envisage d the use of e -commerce 
platforms development for a research and innovation program me and the operationalization of an 
innovation services f und.  
2.155.   Uganda continue d to undertake efforts nationally and regionally , both of a technical and 
policy nature , to support its suppliers'  increased participation in global services trade. With the 
assistance of EIF, Uganda had implemented a Tier 2 project on  District Commercial Services Support 
project (DICOSS) 2012 -17. The project , funded by  the EIF, had supported 25 districts to implement 
and support commercial services at the grass root level. The focus had been  mainly on the private 
sector , with 1 '680 bus iness enterprises trained , 492 businesses included into the formal economy , 
747 new produce cooperatives registered , and a 27% increase in budget allocation in district budgets 
to support small businesses.  
2.156.   In addition, Uganda,  through the Trade Ministry , had also developed a Simplified Manual for 
the private sector, highlighting the opportunities available under each of the Waiver notifications 
made . 
2.157.   On the side line s of Uganda's  Trade Policy Review in March 2019 , Capital officials had 
engaged with some Members with a view to sharing practical ways of ensuring benefits from the 
Waiver. Some of the  Members had  emphasized the necessity for engagement with ITC for targeted 
support . Through ITC , with financial support from CBI -Netherlands, Uganda had been  providing 
funding for ITES firms through the NTF -IV project : 30 companies had been  profiled , had a directory 
and were to be provided with business and marketing skills. There had been  ongoing matchmaking 
efforts to secure contracts for those firms and Uganda was  happy to share that, up to that point,  3 
had been able to get contracts in African and Asian markets.  
2.158.   She conclude d by underlining  some of the ways  in which Members  could  work together to 
facilitate  Uganda 's effective participation i n services trade. Uganda called upon Members to support 
implementation of the National Policy on Services Trade and Plan with particular focus on value -
added production, investment in relevant infrastructure , and improvement of  export capacities of 
the pri vate sector and support institutions.  She also called upon Members to engage with Uganda  in 
bilateral arrangements to follow -up on  the meaningful economic gains from the Waiver. The Waiver 
needed to be operationalized further through such bilateral and private sector engagements with 
preference -granting Members . 
2.159.   She also  highlighted that, as mentioned at the workshop , Members should aim at Aid for 
Trade initiatives that were geared towards service s, specifically supporting LDC services and service 
suppliers. Th ose would  provide meaningful tailored capacity development for the services industry 
and the development of bankable proposals to enhance the capacity of potential export sectors.  
2.160.   Members sho uld continue to explore opportunities for benchmarking and experience -sharing 
from LDCs that had benefitted from the Waiver. Members should work with Uganda in the 
organization of a series of multi -stakeholder dialogues at the national and regional levels to enhance S/C/M/140  
 
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  the awareness, understanding and benefits of the preferences. Members should also support private 
sector professional enterprises to establish commercial presence in target markets through joint -
venturing and providing exchange platforms with co unterparts in the export markets.  
2.161.   Finally, Uganda stressed the importance of technical assistance to build domestic capacity 
for the collection, analysis and dissemination of data on trade in services.  
2.162.   Speaking on behalf of th e LDC Group, the representati ve of Uganda  thank ed notifying 
Members, all Members and the Secretariat for making th at very significant milestone regarding the 
Waiver, in the form of the first review of the operation of  the preferences  notified  under the Waiver 
envisaged in the relevant  Ministerial D ecision.  
2.163.    The representative expressed special  thanks to Members for their very active participation , 
which show ed their commitment to th at very important issue  for the LDC Group. Members  had had 
rich and awakening presentations at the workshop from various speakers , including LDC suppliers . 
The CTS formal session had also provided an opportunity to  get a clearer picture about LDC services 
statistics  and challenges with data in th at regard . The LDC  Group had also noted the very useful 
ideas shared by the Secretariat on some of the ways they could engage collaboratively to address 
the huge statistical gap.  
2.164.   Members  had also  heard from notifying Members on what they were doing with respect to 
the Waiver, and with respect to services generally in LDC s, to ensure benefits from the notified 
preferences. Members  could  do more , and t he LDC Group trusted that th e dedicated session  had 
given Members  something to think about .  
2.165.   The representative of Lesotho , as one of the LCD Members, extended  its support to the 
intervention made the Ambassador of Togo on behalf of the Ambassador of Uganda in his opening 
intervention at the LDC workshop, which had taken Members through the LDC Group 's journey  to 
the first review of the Waiver.   
2.166.   He highlighted that LDCs were clearly becoming active in services trade, both in exports and 
imports. This was important for the economy overall , diversification, employment and industrial 
development. ln fact, services  had grown as a percentage of LDC s' GDP, and the services share in 
Lesotho 's GDP had also increased between  2005 to 2017.  
2.167.   According  to WTO statistics, distribution services were Lesotho's most important  service 
exports to the EU , accounting for  60.3%, foll owed by tourism services at 24.8 % , which showed that 
indeed Lesotho was moving in the right direction. Lesotho also export ed financial services, other 
business services, telecommunications, computer and audiovisual services, professional services, 
transpo rt, education , and rental and leasing services, amongst others.  
2.168.   The representative thanked the relevant organisations present  at the workshop for having 
indicated what more they could  do to improve LDC access to data. Lesotho exhorted  the WTO 
Secretariat to continue to help Lesotho with more data on the destinations of its exports, especially 
where the destinations were notifying Members. Lesotho thanked notifying Members and expressed 
the hope that more awareness -building would be done with LDC exporters a nd consumers in 
notifying Members with respect to the Waiver preferences.  
2.169.   He also  echoed previous speakers and encouraged Members to add more preferences, 
thereby removing procedural and regulatory barriers to Lesotho 's suppliers accessing foreign 
services  markets.  
2.170.   In his concluding remarks, the Chairman  thanked the LDC Group, all Members and the 
Secretariat for an interesting and useful dedicated session, as had been acknowledged by all 
delegations who had intervened. Both the workshop and the dedicated C ouncil meeting had been 
rich and helpful . Much information had been shared and many experiences had been presented. 
Some delegations had been able to draw conclusions, whereas others would continue  reflecting on 
the lessons learnt.  
2.171.   He noted that there were clearly gaps in data collection and reporting, which prevented a 
quantitative assessment of the operation of the Waiver preferences. While those deficiencies were S/C/M/140  
 
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  not going to be resolv ed quickly , possible avenues to address them over the next few ye ars had 
been mentioned during the meeting.  
2.172.   Delegations might  not all share the same, identical assessment of the operation of the 
Waiver preference s. However, one element on which all delegations had c oncurred was that, given 
the nature of services trade, a systematic , structured  evaluation of the benefits resulting from the 
preferences was likely to remain challenging for some time to come, although practical, on the 
ground information and experiences might  provide useful pointers. At any rate, the dedicated session 
was only one element in the process to review the operation of the Waiver. The Council would 
continue to address th at issue as part of its discussions on the Operationalisation of the LDC Wa iver, 
which was a standing item on its agenda . Finally, he underscored  that increasing the participation 
of LDCs in world services trade would remain an important and shared objective of all Members.  
2.173.   The Chairman  suggested that the Council take note of the  statement s made .  
2.174.   It was so agreed . 
3  ITEM C: OTHER BUSINESS  
3.1.  No issue was raised under this agenda item .  
3.2.  The meeting was adjourned . 
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