Trade in Services in South Asia: Opportunities and Risks of Liberalization (First Edition)

By: Saman Kelegama

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Synopsis: This collection of essays explores the opportunities and risks of the liberalization of trade in services in South Asia. It offers an overview of the entire region on market access and regulatory issues as defined by the GATS framework of the WTO and exposes areas for regional and bilateral liberalization. It provides policymakers and other stakeholders in the region with better comprehension of the problems pertaining to these, and consequently, shows them a clearer vision of how to overcome them. The compilation provides insight into the offensive and defensive interests in trade in services of the whole region. The essays survey the formidable challenges that South Asia faces—cost implications, "policy space" restrictions, stakeholder managing—while trying to comply with the GATS regulations on the one hand, and the often inadequate legal provisions and regulatory structures of the individual countries, on the other. It will hold great value for students, researchers, and faculty working in the fields of Economics and Development Studies and South Asia Studies, besides being a useful resource for policy makers.