Mr Loh Jia Jie (Singapore), who chaired the meeting on behalf of the Chair of the Committee of Participants on the Expansion of Trade in Information Technology Products, Mr Hazrul Imran Azahar (Malaysia), informed the participants that on 27 February Timor‑Leste had expressed its intention to join the ITA and the ITA Expansion Agreement. Timor-Leste is one of the least developed countries in the process of becoming a member of the WTO.
The Chair noted that Timor‑Leste’s draft ITA schedule of commitments will be circulated to ITA participants once work undertaken by the Secretariat on technical verification is complete.
ITA implementation issues raised at the meeting included concerns about Indonesia’s import duties on IT products considered by participants to be covered by the ITA in addition to Egypt’s tariffs and fees on imported mobile phones.
The Secretariat provided an update on latest trends in world trade in ITA products. The presentation noted that world exports of ITA products have more than quadrupled since 1996, reaching USD 2.5 trillion in 2021. The export of products under the ITA’s Expansion Agreement is estimated at about USD 2.1 trillion of exports in 2021, accounting for around 12 per cent of world merchandise exports. The Secretariat noted that products covered under the ITA and its expansion are among the most traded product groups in the world.
The report also noted that the ITA contributes to the reduction of import prices of IT products. These prices were around 70 per cent lower in 2021 than when the ITA entered into force in 1996. Asia’s leading role in the production and integration of ITA products was also noted, with Viet Nam becoming the world’s seventh-largest ITA product exporter.
The Committee agreed to consider more thematic discussions on the ITA’s contribution to digital transformation, the role of ICT technology in energy saving, the environment and health, and the role of access to affordable new technology in disaster preparedness.
Workshop on ITA and Digital Transformation
The first Geneva-based thematic training course on the ITA took place from 14 to 17 March 2023. Twenty-nine participants attended the four-day workshop, which aimed to enhance participants’ understanding of the ITA and its expansion and elaborate on the long-term benefits of joining the ITA and the potential short-term challenges.
The course clarified the linkage between ITA participation and attracting foreign direct investment as well as the link between the ITA, digital infrastructure and e-commerce.
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