Trade in Services: Unearthing the devil in the details

Abstract

In 2016, Sri Lanka began its first round of negotiations on an Economic and Technological Cooperation Agreement (ECTA) with India. This envisages liberalising trade in services. The lack of information on what was being negotiated fueled speculation on the outcomes. A previous Verité Insight titled “Trade in Services: Sri Lanka needs to pull up its socks” pointed out, with reference to current Trade Agreements (TAs) of Sri Lanka, that the devil is really in the details – not the concept itself. This Insight attempts to unearth the devil in the details (pitfalls and opportunities) by a quantitative and case analysis of India’s trade agreement with Japan.