The services sector plays an increasingly important role in the global economy and the growth and development of countries through the generation of opportunities for greater income, productivity, employment, investment and trade. Indeed, manufacturing activities and competitiveness increasingly depend on services, a phenomenon known as "servicification".

Services are also crucial for achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. Strengthening the domestic services sector by increasing its backward and forward linkages with the primary and the secondary sectors, as well as its linkage with trade, can be an effective component of a comprehensive development strategy. For developing countries, service trade is the new frontier for enhancing their participation in international trade and, in turn, realizing development gains. Moreover, as services trade demonstrated relative resilience in the latest financial and economic crises this creates additional incentives for countries to incorporate services trade into their national trade and growth strategies.