Erik van der Marel

Valuing Services in Trade: A Toolkit for Competitiveness Diagnostics provides a framework, guidance, and practical tools for conducting an analysis and diagnostics of the trade competitiveness of a country’s services sector. The proposed methods subsequently identify the main constraints to improved competitiveness and the appropriate policy responses. Valuing Services in Trade has been successfully tested on country-specific assessments and is designed to address a wider audience, including policy makers in developing countries and development practitioners in international organizations, policy-making institutions, and academia. Its modules are valuable for different audiences; full country diagnostics can be undertaken or various parts of the Toolkit can be used to address specific areas of interest to policy makers and experts. A successful diagnostic based on the Toolkit depends on qualitative assessments and information gathered from a wide variety of stakeholders in the country, including government officials and the private sector, as well as on the quantitative analysis. A diagnostic analysis should therefore be conducted in four key steps, including preparation of a preliminary trade outcome assessment based on available hard data; initial desk research and preparation for fieldwork; in-country field research; and analysis and preparation of the final report and policy recommendations.