was founded as a response to many official and informal requests on the part of -related technical assistance and Capacity Building in order that they might have better access to Statistics for Trade In Services negotiations under GATS . Discussions on improvements of statistics for Trade In Services date back to the 1980s, during the time of the Uruguay Round under the General Agreement On Tariffs And Trade ( GATT ) talks of the Interim Commission for the International Trade Organization (ICITO), the functional predecessor to the WTO .
The two principal objectives of Capacity Building for Developing Country and LDC Government s are as follows. Firstly, ISTIA seeks to provide training to Trade negotiators and policymakers on the fundamentals of Globalization statistics, that could provide them with a deeper understanding of their work. These comprise Trade In Services Statistics , which could provide insight into the services trade under the GATS Four Modes Of Supply . As well, FDI statistics and Foreign Affiliate Trade Statistics , or " FATS " are important economic indicators in this realm. FATS are corporate financial statistics, aggregated at the national level, describing the operations of FDI -based enterprises, being Multinational Corporation s or Transnational Corporation s; some examples of FATS include statistics on levels of employment, value-added, capital expenditures, inter- and intra- firm trade, as they relate to the economies where FDI -enterprises are based.
The second objective of is to help national governments to improve the '''substance''' of - Eurostat Inter-Agency Task Force on Statistics on International Trade in Services. technical assistance will help the over 120 developing countries which require this form of assistance, to meet IMF and other criteria, while providing governments with information which is more useful for negotiations and policymaking, and which Private Sector enterprises in Developing Countries and LDC s can use to make evidence-based decisions.
also works with Private Sector enterprises and industrial consortia as well as with Academic institutions around the world to forward a wider knowledge of the new field of Globalization statistics.
- , collected courtesy of ISTIA
- [http://www.diplomaticwebsites.ch/ISTIA/wtopapers/S_C_W_27_Add.1.pdf ''A Review of Statistics on Trade Flows in Services'' - Note By The Secretariat, Council For Trade in Services, S/C/W/27/Add.1, 30/10/2000 ]
- [http://www.diplomaticwebsites.ch/ISTIA/wtopapers/S_C_W_27.pdf ''A Review of Statistics on Trade Flows in Services'' - Note By The Secretariat, Council For Trade in Services, S/C/W/27, 10/11/1997 ]
- [http://www.diplomaticwebsites.ch/ISTIA/wtopapers/S_C_W_5.pdf ''GATS and Statistics on Trade in Services'' - Note By The Secretariat, Council For Trade in Services, S/C/W/5, 17/7/1995 ]
- [http://www.diplomaticwebsites.ch/ISTIA/wtopapers/W32.pdf ''Inter-Agency Task Force on Statistics of International Trade in Services'' - Progress Report, May 2000 - Background Note By The Secretariat, Working Party on GATS Rules, S/WPGR/W/32,15/05/2000]
- ''Working Availability of Statistics on Foreign Direct investment And on The Activities of Foreign Affiliates'' - Note By The Secretariat, Group on The Relationship Between Trade And investment, WT/WGTI/W/24, 26/02/1998
- ''Statistics on Trade in Services'' (follow-upBrazilian Questionnaire to the UN-CTC), MTN.GNS/W/17A, 15 September 1987
- ''Statistics on Trade in Services'' (Brazilian Questionnaire to the UN-CTC), MTN.GNS/W/17, 17 August 1987
- Of Information Made Available By Relevant International Organizations On The Availability Of Data In Services'', Special Distribution, MTN.GNS/W/5, 8 April 1987
- GATS, the Modes of Supply and Statistics on Trade in Services, by P. Chang, G. Karsenty, A. Mattoo, and J. Richtering, Journal of World Trade, Vol. 33, No.3, June 1999
- GATS 2000: New Directions in Services Trade Liberalization, edited by Pierre Sauvé, Robert M Stern, Brookings Institution
- Stats on FATS! Statistics on Foreign Affiliates Trade in Services - The new international standard, by Julian Arkell, paper commissioned by the Mark Twain Institute, 2000
- Developing Countries and Services Trade: Chasing A Black Cat in a Dark Room, Blindfolded (2002) by Chakravarthi Raghavan, Third World Network
- UN services data collection won't help GATS negotiators, by Chakravarthi Raghavan, 2000
- Services Data Collection Won't Reflect GATS Defintion, by Chakravarthi Raghavan, 2000
- United States Statistics on Trade in Services, by Obie Whichard, Prepared for APEC Seminar on Statistical Reporting on Service Trade, Tianjin, P.R. China, 14-17 August 2000
- U.S. Industry Classification Procedures for Direct Investment, by Ralph Kozlow and Obie G. Whichard, Presented at the March meeting of IMF/OECD Direct Investment Technical Expert Group, March 7-11, 2005
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