Liberalizing Services Trade. Insights from the OECD STRI

Global services trade regulations showed signs of liberalization in 2021, hitting a pause button on the steady rise in trade barriers witnessed in previous years. According to the recently released 2021 Services Trade Restrictiveness Index (STRI), services liberalization outpaced new restrictions during 2021. This however varies across countries and across sectors.

Janos Ferencz presented the 2021 issue of the STRI and showed how 50 countries around the world have tackled services trade policy making during the pandemic.

Speaker: Janos Ferencz, Trade Policy Analyst, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)

Panelists:

Biswajit Nag, Professor and Head of Economics Division, India Institute of Foreign Trade
Ben Shepherd, Principal, Developing Trade Consultants
Quan Zhao, Trade Policy Advisor, International Trade Centre

Moderator: Hildegunn Kyvik Nordås, Senior Associate, Council on Economic Policies