Regional Workshop on Statistics of International Trade in Services (SITS)

Economic globalization facilitated by the adoption of digital technology has accelerated international trade in services. Recently, the Covid-19 pandemic is also impacting the international trade in services in many ways. For example, international travel is being negatively impacted while personal, cultural and recreational services powered by telecommunication services may be experiencing an increased demand. The changing patterns and dynamics of international trade present new measurement challenges, but also new opportunities for international trade statistics in services to use non-traditional in addition to traditional data sources and methods.

The main goal of the Workshop is to assist the countries gain better understanding of the concepts and definitions of the Manual on Statistics of International Trade in Services 2010 (MSITS 2010) especially on selected topics such as digital trade and their applications to selected categories of Trade in Services. The objectives of the workshop are the following:

a) advance in the implementation of the Manual on Statistics of International Trade in Services 2010 (MSITS 2010) recommendations, especially with an in-depth focus on most challenging categories of Trade in Services;

b) enhance capacities to produce high quality data and meet an increased demand for timely and relevant data for policy needs in the Decade of Action and era of Covid-19 pandemic;

c) raise awareness of the development of a statistical conceptual framework for measuring digital trade in services; and

d) build capacities of national statistical offices and other relevant agencies in the use of technology for SITS.

The workshop is also an opportunity for countries to share their experiences and challenges in the compilation of SITS, especially on challenging categories.

Event Page hosted by UN ECLAC:
https://www.cepal.org/en/events/regional-workshop-statistics-international-trade-services