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ISTIA projects 2010 ISTIA Mandate to Assist Swiss National Center for
Research (NCCR)
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ISTIA and UN Expert Meetings
UN Multi-Year Expert Meeting on Services, Development and Trade (3rd Session)
ISTIA is the the only international
agency working in the area of WTO-related Services Trade
Statistics Capacity Building. In March 2010, ISTIA was
honored to be invited to participate to attend the 3rd
Session of the UN Multi-Year Expert Group on Services, Development
and Trade, held in the UN Palais des Nations, Geneva,
Switzerland. The principal meeting focus concerned
services-related egulatory and institutional frameworks of
developing country governments, especially African countries, least
developed countries (LDCs) and countries with special needs,
such as economies-in-transition. Discussions focused on
strengthening domestic services capacity, increasing services
efficiency and enhancing competitiveness; also strengthening export
capacity. A special focus was placed on the Accra
Accord. Key
Issues | Notification | Agenda | Programme | Documents | Summary| Participant
list |
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ISTIA and WTO 7th WTO Ministerial meeting in Geneva, 30 November - 2 December 2009 The Seventh Session of the WTO Ministerial
Conference will be held in Geneva,
Switzerland, from 30
November to 2 December
2009. The general theme for discussion shall
be �The WTO, the Multilateral Trading
System and the Current Global Economic
Environment�. ISTIA seeks to supports the Multilateral Trade System by helping WTO Members to better measure the Current Global Economic Environment |
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ISTIA and United Nations
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ISTIA and United Nations ISTIA Seeks UN-ECOSOC
Consultative
Status
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ISTIA in the Gulf
ISTIA-GOIC MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING
SERVICES DRIVE INDUSTRIAL GROWTH (Press release) (article)
A Memorandum of Understanding has been
signed on Tuesday 6th of March 2007, in Doha Qatar, between Gulf
Organization for Industrial Consulting (GOIC) and the Geneva-based
agency International Services Trade Information Agency (ISTIA).
Signing the MOU, was H.E. Dr. Ahmed Khalil Al Mutawa, GOIC Secretary
General, and Ms. Jennifer M. Powell, ISTIA Executive
Director.
Developing the capacity to gather such information at the national level will give the GCC countries the tools necessary to successfully measure, understand and plan strategically for requirements of a more global and integrated world economy. GCC governments require training so as to better-collect data so that negotiators are best-prepared to negotiate in the WTO under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), as well as in other bilateral trade and investment negotiations. In addition to training governments how to collect data, trade-negotiators, diplomats and other high-level government officials could benefit from training so as to 'bridge the gap' between the new globalization data framework and their decision-making activities.
In the new millennium, services are instrumental components of industrial activities; previously, services and industrial business activities were viewed as distinct and separate. The modern global economy views services and industrial activity as symbiotic and integrated for two principal reasons. Firstly, because businesses require efficient services sectors such as transportation and communications for domestic or import/export commercial operations. Secondly, modern business models no longer view companies as strictly services-only or industrial-only. In the 21st century, many companies which used to be famous for only selling goods, now also sell services as separate products; one example of this is Hewlett Packard, a former hardware-only firm which now sells consulting, business integration and other services as stand-alone products. Services also make up a significant share of the GDP for all countries in the world; developed country GDP is usually 70-85% services-driven, while developing country GDP figures are generally 35-70% services-based.
Foreign direct investment (FDI) is a part of the WTO GATS agreement, and in this light, measurement of FDI on a basis which allows sectoral and partner country identification is of crucial importance. Successful ISTIA collaboration seeks to facilitate the public and private sectors of GCC countries to operate in a manner most proactive and strategic in relation to globalization affairs. |
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ISTIA and the OECD ISTIA at the OECD-WTO "Aid for Trade" Mini-Ministerial 6-7 November 2006 -
Doha, Qatar
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ISTIA and the World
Bank ISTIA at "Managing for Development Results" meeting December 2006 - Beijing, China 
ISTIA as a new organization was invited, and present at the World Bank's Managing for Development Results meeting, Beijing, China. |
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ISTIA Technical Assistance ISTIA Capacity Building for Government of Vietnam
On the eve of the accession of Vietnam as the 150th WTO Member, ISTIA provided an intensive week-long course on Services trade policy and Services trade statistics to officials of the Government of Vietnam. The course, which took place the first week of October, introduced the use of services trade statistics, foreign direct investment (FDI) statistics and foreign affiliate trade statistics. The course also addressed the country's new legal framework for investment. Course summary here.
Government of France, Ministry of Finance Employment and Industry (MINEFI), ADETEF ISTIA-FRANCE (ADETEF) Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) |
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ISTIA among International Statistical
Bodies
ISTIA has been listed by the International Statistical Institute (ISI) in the ISI Directory of Official Statistical Organizations, in light of the importance of ISTIA work to capacity building of official statistical measurement by governments of trade-in-services. |
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ISTIA and
OECD
ISTIA participated in the Inter-Agency Task
Force on Standards for Statistics on International Trade in
Services, held in Paris 11-15 September 2006. Details on this
meeting can be found here.
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ISTIA and OECD
Organised jointly by the OECD Directorate for Science, Technology and Industry (DSTI) and the French Ministry of Economy, Finance and Industry |
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ISTIA at WTO
Ministerial 2005 WTO Hong Kong Ministerial
Conference ISTIA High-Level Expert-group Meeting
13-18 December 2005
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ISTIA Seminars ISTIA Presentation to Government of Afghanistan
Presented at the Permanent Mission of Afghanistan to the United Nations and WTO, Geneva, Switzerland
October 2005 |
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ISTIA and Switzerland 2006 ISTIA Legal Foundation 26 July 2006
Geneva, 28 June 2006 - As WTO trade negotiators work to complete the Doha Round of WTO negotiations, a new international agency arrives with the objective of empowering developing countries in services trade negotiations with better information through statistical capacity building and negotiator training.
ISTIA registration, Canton-State of Geneva
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ISTIA Foundation ISTIA "Launch" as New International
Agency June 2006 As from the end of June 2006, ISTIA, the International Services Trade Information Agency has come into being in Geneva, Switzerland. ISTIA will function as an international agency, assisting developing country governments with the improvement of national accounts and other information necessary for developing country governments to better negotiate in the World Trade Organization (WTO) services negotiations, known as GATS (the General Agreement on Trade in Services). ISTIA was founded in response to official requests made by developing country governments, in the WTO and during pre-WTO trade negotiations, for help in this area, for the past 20 years. At present, developing country WTO trade negotiators do not have useful information which helps them to assess the value of services trade commitments under WTO-GATS, a fact which has hindered WTO-GATS negotiations for all WTO Members. ISTIA seeks to change this situation for the better.
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ISTIA and International Statistics
Bodies
ISTIA participated in the International Association for Research on Income and Wealth in Joensuu, Finland. Conferences of special interest concerned FDI and the relationship of national accounts |
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ISTIA and International Statistics
Bodies
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ISTIA cancels IRS exempt
application ISTIA CANCELLATION. With a view towards retention of neutrality, ISTIA has cancelled the IRS-Treasury application for recognition as a foreign-based association, rendered in February 2007, to the IRS Exempt office in Cincinnati/Kentucky. This application was a good-faith, non-required application. ISTIA, being Swiss non-governmental organization operating in an inter-governmental capacity - such as was defined in ISTIA Articles of Association - strives to retain an neutral position, in work, which principally involves government training. Application was made with a view toward opening an ISTIA office in Washington, D.C., an interest which has also been cancelled. For further information, persons are welcome to contact ISTIA directly. |
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Contact
details: Email: info@servicestrade.org |
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