Services liberalization, negotiations and regulation: Some lessons from the GATS experience

The services economy has been undergoing a major transformation over the last three decades, moving away from the old model, where services were more often than not government functions provided by public utility entities, towards a new paradigm of private, sector-led, competitive markets, where services are exchanged on a commercial basis. Accordingly, the role of governments has fundamentally changed in many activities from being the provider of the service into that of the supervisor or regulator in pursuit of public interests. Increasingly, services markets continue to be liberalized, motivated by the usual gains from competition (better quality, lower prices, wider choices, expanding markets and more job creation).