Global Services Forum in association with REDLAS Conference 2018: Knowledge-based services for sustainable development

The GSF of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) is convened to advance the development agenda connected to the services’ economy and trade, to raise awareness on the direct and indirect effects of services on inclusive and sustainable development, and to promote and strengthen partnerships between stakeholders.

The REDLAS Conference is organized to disseminate high quality and multi-disciplinary research on diverse aspects of services to inform public and private policies, to increase knowledge on key topics in services, and to promote international cooperation between services experts and researchers.

The outcome of the GSF-REDLAS 2018 will be to discuss viable options and strategies to strengthen knowledge-based services economy and trade as a fundamental component of the services contribution to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals.

The conference organizers are: 

• United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, UNCTAD

• United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, ECLAC

• Secretariat of Productive Transformation, Ministry of Production, Argentina

• University of Buenos Aires, Argentina

• Konrad Adenauer Stiftung

• University of Chile

The GSF was launched in Doha, Qatar (2012) and since then it has taken place in Beijing, China (2013), and in Nairobi, Kenya (2016). It brings together high-level policy-makers, services regulators, representatives of international organizations, business leaders and other private sector delegates such as heads of coalitions/associations of services industries, renowned academics, and other stakeholders from all regions to openly discuss strategies and approaches to strengthen the development impact of services.

REDLAS has held six Conferences in Brazil (2010), Chile (2012), Mexico (2014), Uruguay (2015), Brazil (2016) and Costa Rica (2017). REDLAS is a community of experts and researchers actively involved in the study and formulation of services public policies, mainly located in Latin America and the Caribbean. Its members come from a wide range of areas in services, including from academia, governments, international organizations and private sector.