MAY 08, 2020 | GLOBAL
Pandemic Highlighting the Importance of Digital Trade, Could Spur WTO Talks
Inside US Trade, May 8, 2020
By Hannah Monicken
As the pandemic pushes the world online in an effort to slow the virus’ spread, countries – and companies – are reinforcing their commitment to digital trade, and that’s spurred those in Geneva and those watching from the outside to weigh the changes of post-pandemic momentum in the plurilateral talks on electronic commerce at the World Trade Organization.
How global trade will be different in a post-COVID world can’t be fully known today, analysts told Inside US Trade, but they added that the pandemic has accelerated a digitization trend – and firmly established digital trade as a defining issue.
The pandemic has “sped up, increased, enhanced the need for digitization,” Christine Bliss, president of the Coalition of Services Institutes, said. And this, in turn, has “underscored the importance” of cross-border data flows, Joseph Whitlock, director of policy for BSA | The Software Alliance, told Inside US Trade this week.
Supply chains are also important in digital trade, Whitlock said. Information and communication technology supply chains must be operational so that countries can source the equipment needed for remote work, online shopping and securing digital infrastructure.
Original Posting: https://insidetrade.com/share/168784
关于 BSA
BSA |“软件联盟”(www.bsa.org) 是全球软件行业的主要倡导者，旨在代表该行业，向政府和国际市场发声。其成员包括全球最具创新力的公司，这些公司制定的软件解决方案，不但能够刺激经济，还能提升现代生活的品质。
BSA 的总部位于华盛顿特区，其营运机构遍布 30 多个国家。BSA 凭借这些机构，率先涉足合规项目，以期促进使用合法软件、倡导制定公共政策，并以此培养技术创新能力，以及推动发展数字经济。