Malaysia’s permanent representative to WTO elected as chairperson for trade in services council

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s permanent representative to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in Geneva, Switzerland, Ambassador Syahril Syazli Ghazali, has been elected by acclamation as the new chairperson for WTO’s Council for Trade in Services (CTS) in a meeting held on July 4, 2024.

Prior to the meeting, General Council chairman Ambassador Petter Olberg (Norway), via his communication dated May 31, 2024, confirmed that the 164 WTO members reached a consensus to accept the nomination of Syahril as the CTS chairperson for the period of 2024-2025.

The services sector is the fastest growing sector of today’s global economy, and many economies are working towards incorporating the related policies into their respective trade plans, Syahril said.

“Hence, it is important for WTO members to ensure that the relevant regulatory frameworks, as stipulated in the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), remain transparent, predictable, and efficient.

“In leading towards the Fourteenth Ministerial Conferences, I urged members to exchange views to identify and prioritise ‘balanced topics’ for the upcoming thematic sessions and seminars, and share their domestic experiences, as well as good regulatory practices, for the benefit of others,” he said in his maiden speech as the chairperson of CTS made available to BK.

The CTS is one of the WTO’s tier-1 subsidiary bodies that oversees the implementation of the GATS and reports directly to the General Council.

The GATS provides a legal framework for addressing barriers to trade and investment in services.

It includes specific commitments by WTO members to restrict their use of those barriers and provides a forum for further negotiations to open and facilitate services markets.

These commitments are contained in member schedules, similar to the member schedules for tariffs.

The CTS also supervises the work of four subsidiary bodies, namely the Committee on Trade in Financial Services (CTFS), the Committee on Specific Commitments (CSC), the Working Party on Domestic Regulation (WPDR) and the Working Party on GATS Rules (WPGR).

The appointment of Ambassador Syahril marks Malaysia’s able leadership to coordinate and facilitate the important work on Trade in Services and can be considered as a recognition of Malaysia’s constructive contribution to the WTO and multilateral trading system by the membership. – BK