Active participation in services trade negotiations — at the WTO and elsewhere — as well as in international policy discussions on services trade requires participants to master the legal provisions of services agreements, such as the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS).  For many poorer economies, this remains challenging, particularly in cases where services expertise is scarce in trade and foreign ministries and in regulatory agencies.

Active engagement in services discussions requires not only legal knowledge but also the capability to coordinate work across ministries, consult stakeholders and develop domestic strategies.

Challenges in this area can prevent economies from articulating their interests, contributing to rulemaking, or leveraging opportunities in regional or multilateral trade. Empowering developing economies to shape services trade policy dialogues is critical for inclusive and equitable outcomes at the global level.

Capacity-building activities

Technical assistance and training on the obligations of the GATS, and its relevance for various services sectors, has been a cornerstone of the WTO Secretariat's capacity-building activities coordinated by the Institute for Training and Technical Cooperation (ITTC). These activities include national workshops, regional training events and Geneva-based courses implemented in line with the WTO's biennial Technical Assistance and Training Plan.  

Between 2023 and mid-2025, the WTO Secretariat delivered various national workshops on services trade in developing economies, including in Guatemala, Guyana, Jordan, Nepal, the Philippines and Nigeria.

In addition, the WTO Secretariat has delivered training on trade in services and the GATS in four regional workshops. Some of these activities, such as the Regional Workshop on Trade in Services for Arab Countries in Abu Dhabi in 2025 and the Regional Workshop on Trade in Services for French-speaking African Countries in Burundi, have been organized in collaboration with regional partners. 

The WTO e-Learning Programme offers free online training, including on the GATS and trade in services. Primarily intended for government officials from developing economies and least-developed countries, the core objective is to support these countries in building trade-related capacity and participating more effectively in global trade: Visit platform

As part of its country engagements, the World Bank provides technical assistance designed to help developing economies define interests and elaborate national strategies on services trade. Such strategies involve consideration of domestic policy priorities, the elaboration of interests and objectives for international negotiations. The World Bank also provides services-related technical assistance to developing economies that are in the process of acceding to the WTO, most recently to Azerbaijan, Ethiopia, Serbia and Uzbekistan.

Related resources

The WTO and World Bank provide a searchable database on services commitments undertaken under the GATS and in preferential trade agreements: WB-WTO | I-TIP Services

The World Bank offers a dataset on "deep" trade agreements, with various indicators capturing various features of preferential trade agreements on trade in services: https://datatopics.worldbank.org/dta/table.html

The WTO's Regional Trade Agreements Database includes information on all agreements notified under Article V of the GATS: Regional trade agreements

Author	Title	Link
WBG	International Trade in Services: New Trends and Opportunities (2009)	Get resource
WBG	Negotiating Trade in Services: A Practical Guide for Developing Countries (2009)	Get resource
WBG	Handbook of Deep Trade Agreements (2020)	Get resource

Capacity-building activities, programmes, and resources by other international organizations and development banks

Other international and regional organizations have technical assistance programmes on services trade policies and negotiations (see below).

ITC:

The ITC offers support to developing economies on negotiations on trade in services.  Projects being implemented include:

• Support for regional integration in the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA): this involves assessing domestic regulatory frameworks across seven CEFTA countries against regional commitments under CEFTA Additional Protocol 6, with a view to supporting regulatory reforms to address identified misalignments in the regulatory framework
• Association of Southeast Asian Nations(ASEAN) Sustainable Connectivity Package (SCOPE) Trade: this aims, among other things, to provide technical support for regional commitments pertaining to services - particularly with regard to the transition to the negative list under the ASEAN Trade in Services Agreement (ATISA). More information
• Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States: Regulatory assessment for six services sectors, and capacity building to enhance understanding of negative list scheduling and implications for domestic regulatory practices to prepare for regional trade agreement (RTA) negotiations
• East African Community (EAC): Support the EAC to develop and operationalize mutual recognition agreements (MRAs) for a number of professional services (e.g. architects, engineers, lawyers)
• Support for countries in the WTO accession process to help them develop negotiation positions in relation to trade in services and undertake initial offers on sector schedules of commitments for the WTO
• Support for services sector associations and coalitions of services industries by facilitating the creation of the Asia-Pacific Services Coalition under Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).