Article 54: Development of the Services Sector
- COTED shall, in collaboration with the appropriate Councils, promote the development of the services sector in the Community in order to stimulate economic complementarities among, and accelerate economic development in, the Member States. In particular, COTED shall promote measures to achieve:
(a) increased investment in services;
(b) increased volume, value and range of trade in services within the Community and with third States;
(c) competitiveness in the modes of delivering services; and
(d) enhanced enterprise and infrastructural development, including that of micro and small service enterprises.
- In order to achieve the objectives set out in paragraph 1, the Member States shall, through the appropriate Councils, collaborate in:
(a) designing programmes for the development of human resources to achieve competitiveness in the provision of services;
(b) establishing a regime of incentives for the development of and trade in services; and
(c) adopting measures to promote the establishment of an appropriate institutional and administrative framework and, in collaboration with the Legal Affairs Committee, promote the establishment of the appropriate legal framework to support the services sector in the Community.
- In the establishment of programmes and policies of the Community for the development of the services sector, the relevant Councils shall give priority to:
(a) the efficient provision of infrastructural services including telecommunications, road, air, maritime and riverain transportation, statistical data generation and financial services;
(b) the development of capacity-enhancing services including education services, research and development services;
(c) the development of services which enhance cross-sector competitiveness; (d) the facilitation of cross-border provision of services which enhance the
competitiveness of the services sector; and
(e) the development of informatics and other knowledge-based services.