This policy brief sets out recommendations to achieve a new multilateral framework of trade
rules in the digital arena, thereby facilitating continued digital transformation of services and growth in cross-border flows of data. The present moment is critical. Successful conclusion of World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations on E-Commerce will support trade in digital services, underpinned by cross-border data flows, complementing the expected recovery in travel and tourism services to provide a robust basis for global economic recovery and sustainable and inclusive growth. If the talks stall and fail to complete in 2022, technological change threatens another serious blow to a global institution which is reeling and seemingly unable to manage the regulatory heterogeneity resulting from national policies
that threaten to compartmentalize data governance and fragment the global digital economy.