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VERSION:2.0
PRODID:unctad.org
BEGIN:VEVENT
UID:6ad9eca935b7e
DTSTART:20261123T080000Z
SEQUENCE:0
TRANSP:OPAQUE
DTEND:20261123T093000Z
LOCATION:Online\, 
SUMMARY:Sixth meeting of the informal working group on data for services\, 
 trade and development policies
CLASS:PUBLIC
DESCRIPTION:The fifth meeting of the Informal Working Group examined how se
 rvices can act as shock absorbers or bottlenecks\, and what linked firm-le
 vel and administrative data can reveal about resilience. It highlighted th
 at exposure does not necessarily imply vulnerability: outcomes also depend
  on factors such as supplier concentration\, substitutability and customiz
 ation.The sixth meeting will take this discussion from the firm level to t
 he economy-wide level. Input-output (IO) and multi-regional input-output (
 MRIO) data can show how services are used directly and indirectly in produ
 ction\, where foreign services inputs enter production networks\, and how 
 much exposure is hidden upstream rather than visible in direct trade stati
 stics.The meeting will focus on what such data can reveal about services e
 xposure and the scope for substitution\, where their limits lie\, and whic
 h related indicators are also useful for describing a country’s services
  trade and servicification.The meeting will address the following guiding 
 questions:Which IO/MRIO indicators are most informative for identifying di
 rect and indirect exposure to foreign services inputs?How far can existing
  data distinguish exposure from dependence or vulnerability?How comparable
  are these measures across international databases?Which indicators are us
 eful for country-level analysis of services trade and servicification?What
  is UNCTAD’s Informal Working Group on Data for Services\, Trade and Dev
 elopment Policies?The Informal Working Group on Data for Services\, Trade 
 and Development Policies was established following the recommendations of 
 the ninth session of the Multi-Year Expert Meeting (MYEM) on Trade\, Servi
 ces and Development. The Working Group seeks to identify services-trade da
 ta gaps\, share good practice examples of data collection\, identify relev
 ant data sources and showcase innovative ways to use existing data for pol
 icymaking.The first four meetings of the Working Group focused on data nee
 ds and good practices in services-trade data collection and use\, includin
 g the potential of alternative and administrative data sources. The fifth 
 meeting will build on this work by focusing on a specific policy question:
  how can services-trade\, firm-level and administrative data help policyma
 kers assess the role of services in supply-chain shocks and resilience\, i
 ncluding by identifying services that act as shock absorbers\, bottlenecks
  or sources of dependency.MandatesThe meeting responds to the Geneva Conse
 nsus in particular paragraph 80.15 which calls on UNCTAD “to improve the
  collection\, accessibility and use of trade in services data to inform po
 licy decisions\, to enable all\, particularly women and microenterprises a
 nd small and medium-sized enterprises\, to leverage and benefit from trade
  in services and support the development of services-led trade export stra
 tegies.”The meeting also follows up on the twelfth session of the MYEM\,
  held on 15 and 16 April 2026\, which encouraged UNCTAD to strengthen its 
 work on services data and analyse the effects of external shocks on supply
 -chain resilience through a servicification lens.https://unctad.org/meetin
 g/multi-year-expert-meeting-trade-services-and-development-12th-session\n\
 nView meeting on unctad.org\nhttps://unctad.org/meeting/sixth-meeting-info
 rmal-working-group-data-services-trade-and-development-policies
DTSTAMP:20261022T105953Z
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