During times of rapid economic change, the multilateral trading system must ensure that the opportunities posed by technology are expanded and that their adverse effects are reduced, World Trade Organization (WTO) chief Roberto Azevedo said today.
Azevedo said at a conference that "trade in services, data and information is growing on digital platforms. And traditional trade in manufactured goods, agricultural products or natural resources is also increasingly facilitated by digital technologies."
He also said that Between 2013 and 2015, the value of online digital commerce rose from $16 trillion to $22 trillion, "expanding opportunities worldwide".
It is estimated, he said, that the E-commerce sales will increase by more than 23 percent in 2017 alone and the global trading system "must go further".
In 1900, about half of all workers in France worked on farms, he said. Today, the figure is less than 10 percent. In fact, in some economies, eight out of XNUMX manufacturing jobs lost are due to higher productivity, not cheaper imports, Azevedo said.
The WTO biennial ministerial conference will be held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, from 10 to 13 December.
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