Beyond their key contribution to value chains in all sectors, services represent a centrally important source of economic and export diversification. This paper discusses how to promote trade in services as a channel for growth, employment, and diversification by assessing services trade costs and identifying policies that contribute to their reduction: a concept termed trade facilitation in services. It summarizes the latest research on the costs facing trade in services beyond discriminatory

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... arket access and national treatment and finds that these are high. It proposes measures that could fall under the scope of a potential trade facilitation in services agenda, namely: (i) streamlining processes and procedures used in administering regulatory policies aside from the policy itself, (ii) improving access to information on regulatory policies (that is, transparency), and (iii) boosting the efficiency of governance structures for regulators that set policies affecting trade in services.