The Role of Services Industry Coalitions in Intergovernmental Trade in Services Negotiations

In view of the sluggishness of the Doha Development Round negotiations, trade in services has increasingly become an integral component of bilateral and regional free trade agreements. To help structure intergovernmental trade liberalization negotiations through better coordination of national interests, the services industry has established services coalitions and associations at the national and international levels to allow them to impact the negotiations and become active partners at the negotiating table. As clearly illustrated in the following study, these coalitions are increasing in numbers, improving in skills and constantly expanding their sphere of influence on national, regional, and multilateral trade policies.

This paper is academic research on the potential and real role of services industry coalitions in services negotiations conducted between governments. It was written by a prominent young Egyptian diplomat, Ragui El-Etreby, and prepared under the auspices of the Geneva School of International Relations in Switzerland. TRAC is happy to be the first institution to publish it on its website