Services Sectors Workshop

The tertiary sector accounts for around 60% of South Africa's GDP and formal employment. In addition, the sector provides key inputs to the manufacturing and primary sectors and in some cases is a crucial determinant of the competitiveness of these sectors. Nonetheless, services remain under-researched in South Africa, thereby limiting the potential for government to meet its economic objectives and to use the GATS negotiations at the WTO to win trade preferences for Services exports.
In an attempt to develop a medium-term research agenda for the sector, TIPS convened a small workshop of interested researchers and academics to discuss research priorities, sectoral challenges, availability of information and information sharing.