This paper was written just before the Fifth Ministerial Meeting of the World Trade Organization in Cancun, Mexico. It called on the government to open up the debates on the Philippine commitments concerning the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) and seek the views of the local service industries and other stakeholders such as the trade unions before making any formal initial offers to the GATS negotiations. According to the author, such industry-government dialogues were being done by both developed and developing countries.
