INTERNATIONAL TRADE IN SERVICES: DEVELOPMENT TRENDS AND POSSIBILITIES

Abstract

International trade in services had grown significantly, what marks importance in the country’s economy. Major features of services have much in common with other services, becoming increasingly internationalized services also account for a greater share of foreign direct investment than does manufacturing in the most developed economies of the world. Because services are such a large and important component of the Lithuanian economy, understanding the implications of increased trade in services is crucial to the trade liberalization by the EU Directive on services, agenda going forward.

Paper is based on extensive literature analysis and empirical data. The analysis of an introduction to the nature of international services showed, that the important instrument of services trade development is Directive on services in the internal market, which EU law is aiming at establishing a single market for services within the European Union (EU). So it was designed to break down barriers to trade in services across the EU, and help complete the single market. The EU Services Directive is one of the cornerstones for the realization of the EU internal market and is fundamental to economic and legal experts in governments, trade and industry, as well as to the general public. The starting point is identifying issues of competition in the international trade sector is that EU Services Directive to execute a purpose contribute to the Lisbon strategy goal of making the European Union the world’s most dynamic, competitive and sustainable economy. The article deals with the services sector’s development in ES market analysing its competitive potential in our Lithuanian country.

The study showed that companies whose activity is oriented towards the fields with the highest added value (creation of new services, consultations, or information technologies) became more active during the cycle of economic stagnation. The trends of international trade of services show that trade in these fields will expand, and the rate of growth will markedly differ from that of services whose growth is significantly affected by economic changes in separate regions of the world.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.em.17.4.2994