Contemporary Issues in Digital Trade Governance: Implications for Commonwealth Small States

Experts

Over the past two decades, there has been an uptick and proliferation in the types of digital trade and e-commerce agreements, as well as a variety of multilateral frameworks influencing the digital governance domain. This hybrid briefing provided an overview of contemporary developments shaping the digital trade regulatory landscape. It focused on two specific issues: first, the rapid evolution of digital trade rule-making and the growing importance of Digital Economy Agreements and second, the relevance and scope of the JSI e-commerce agreement, recently concluded at the WTO.

These issues were evaluated through the lens of small states’ priorities and interests, assessing the developmental dimension and the way forward. The session contributed to small states’ preparatory processes for the upcoming WTO Ministerial Conference (MC14), empowering them to engage more effectively.

This briefing was jointly organised by the Commonwealth Small States Office (CSSO) in Geneva, Diplo and the Geneva Internet Platform.

Diplo’s Director of Digital Trade & Economic Security, Marilia Maciel, co-organised the event with Kim Kampel, Trade Adviser to the Commonwealth Small States Office (CSSO) in Geneva.

Maciel provided an overview of contemporary geopolitical challenges, as well as developments shaping the digital trade regulatory landscape, including the growing importance of Digital Economy Agreements. She also placed digital trade rulemaking into the broader scope of digital governance provided by WSIS and the Global Digital Compact.

Kampel presented an overview of the JSI e-commerce agreement, recently concluded at the WTO, with special emphasis on its development provisions and on its importance to small states.

Event gallery

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