Examining the Cost of Services Protection in a Developing Country: The Case of South Africa

In the lead-up to the next round of WTO talks, some commentators have argued that developing countries should liberalise their service industries for their own benefit and not just in response to industrial country demands. This paper critically explores this position for the case of South Africa. It finds that while the structure of the economy limits some of the traditional gains, a number of positive spillovers from the process ensure that there is an overall net benefit. It concludes by discussing a range of policy options that could be used to maximise the benefits and minimise the costs