The global trade landscape is undergoing a breathtaking transformation driven by services and the digital economy, yet stark divides persist, threatening to leave the world’s most vulnerable behind.
Speaking at the 16th session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD16) in Geneva on Tuesday, UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Secretary-General Rebeca Grynspan called on global leaders to translate policy commitments into concrete action to bridge the digital gap.
Digital economy a ‘Dynamic Force’ in global trade
Secretary-General Grynspan highlighted the unprecedented growth and potential of digitally delivered services, positioning them as the new dynamic force in global trade.
- Services Surge: Services now account for 56% of global trade and grew by 9% last year, even as the trade in goods stagnated.
- Trillion-Dollar Milestone: Exports of digitally deliverable services from developing economies crossed the $1 trillion mark in 2024, signaling a major shift in global economic power.
- AI Explosion: The Artificial Intelligence (AI) market is projected to expand an astonishing 25-fold in a decade, from $189 billion to nearly $5 trillion.
Grynspan emphasized that services, especially those digitally delivered, are fundamentally different from goods. They are often “blind to traditional trade barriers” and “blind to geography,” enabling a coder in a developing country to serve clients anywhere in the world.
“A country doesn’t need ports or very sophisticated highways to export services. It needs connectivity, skills and enabling digital infrastructure,” said Grynspan, underscoring the unprecedented opportunity for developing countries to leapfrog traditional development pathways. “A small island state can become a hub for financial services. A landlocked country can export software globally. Women entrepreneurs can access markets without navigating complex logistics.”
Persisting divides threaten Inclusive Growth
Despite this exponential growth, Grynspan warned of a two-speed world where vast divides persist, undermining the promise of an inclusive digital future.
- LDC Export Gap: In Least Developed Countries (LDCs), digitally deliverable services make up just 20% of exports.
- Connectivity Crisis: While two-thirds of the world is online, only one-third of people in LDCs can connect.
- E-commerce Exclusion: In most of Africa, only one in ten adults shops online, illustrating the barrier to accessing global digital markets.
“These aren’t separate worlds,” Grynspan stressed. “They’re part of our one world. Our only one world. Much hinges on whether we can bridge the gap between these two possibilities.”
Call to action: Cooperation for an equitable digital future
The Secretary-General stressed that realizing the promise of the digital economy demands a concerted global effort. This includes cooperation on:
- Infrastructure investment and connectivity.
- Skills development.
- Data governance.
- Competition policy and innovation-enabling regulatory frameworks.
The outcome document being negotiated at UNCTAD16 commits to bridging digital divides and supporting countries in harnessing emerging technologies. UNCTAD, as co-lead of the Global Digital Compact’s Objective 2 and Chair of the UN Group on the Information Society, is already spearheading efforts through initiatives like eTrade for All to build digital trade capacity.
Grynspan concluded by urging delegates and global stakeholders to become champions in translating the conference’s commitments into tangible action: “Translating these commitments into infrastructure investment, capacity building, and policy reform will need many champions.”
