Trade in Services

Kenya - 30 November 2012

The General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) is the first Multilateral trade agreement to cover trade in services. Its creation was one of the major achievements of the Uruguay Round of trade negotiations from 1986 to 1993, whose results became operational in January 1995.The creation of GATS centered on establishing a credible and reliable system of international trade rules: ensuring fair and equitable treatment off all participants and promoting trade activities through progressive advertisement. The purpose of this research paper under the WTO Chair`s program within School of
Economics in the University of Nairobi is to give an overview of the service sector, analyse its contributions towards growth and development, consider GATS and its modes of supply, look at the current state and prospects of the service sector within the economies of developing countries. The paper equally looks at the critical policies and general regulatory environment for the service sector and points out on critical areas that deserves research attention .In summary the paper intends to give an insight of the importance of the service sector in development and the various ways in which services may be delivered internationally and the way forward.

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