Barriers to Trade in Services in theCEFTA Region

Handjiski, Borko ; Sestovic, Lazar

World Bank

关键词: ACCOUNTING;    ACCOUNTING SERVICES;    AIR;    AIR TRANSPORT;    AIRPORTS;   

DOI  :  10.1596/978-0-8213-8799-3
RP-ID  :  63723

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

This paper describes the economicimportance of the service sector in Central European FreeTrade Agreement (CEFTA) countries and current barriers totrade in services between CEFTA countries. It looks at foursectors: construction, land transport, legal services, andInformation and Communication Technology (ICT) services. Theintent is to stimulate dialogue on trade in services betweendecision-makers in CEFTA countries. In CEFTA economies,export of services accounts for about 10 percent of GDP innon coastal countries and much more in coastal countries,where foreign currency earnings from tourism are thedominant form of service = exports. Though CEFTA countrieshave opened their markets considerably, mostly because theyare pursuing accession to the European Union (EU) and theWorld Trade Organization (WTO), there are still obstacles totrade in services. Some, such as the movement ofprofessional workers, are general; others aresector-specific. In what follows, the next sectionillustrates the importance of the services sectors in CEFTAeconomies and analyzes trends in services trade and inintraregional trade for countries that have such dataavailable. The third section describes general barriers totrade in services, and specific barriers for the foursectors specified. The analysis reviews the legal andinstitutional framework for trade in services and featuresassessments by regional companies that export such services.The final section summarizes the findings.