Developing Country Proposals for the Liberalization of Movements of Natural Services Suppliers

This chapter criticizes the mercantilist rhetoric of some of the initial proposals because they requested other countries to liberalize their imports without offering reciprocal and equivalent market-opening commitments. It notes the extreme caution of developed country offers and concludes that — even though ‘Mode 4’ appears to be the principal way in which developing countries might expect to reap market access benefits in services — there may not be much liberalization of ‘Mode 4 services’ during the Doha Round in view of, inter alia, the xenophobic European fears of permanent migration. Developing countries likewise continue to be restrictive on opening their labour markets for professional services of foreign workers, in contrast to their more liberal attitude vis-à-vis ‘commercial presence’ (Mode 3) of foreign services suppliers.