Promoting Services Trade in ASEAN. Trade in Education Services

Research on trade in education services intensified at the beginning of the 21st century after the proposal to include these services into the Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations under the auspices of WTO. The proposal triggered controversy among many academics, arguing that education is not a commercial product but a public good and a human right, and it is not suitable for commercial transactions and trade negotiations. The Round has failed, but the issues have not disappeared, as many countries, not able to satisfy the rapidly growing demand for education, have enlarged the room for the private provision of, and trade in, education services. The study represents a complex analysis of all aspects of trade in education services in the regional context of ten ASEAN countries. It includes the examination of trends in trade by the four modes of cross-border service delivery and all education levels (ch. II), against the background of the growing role of the private sector, creating room for trade (ch. I), and the characteristics of education services, making them distinct from commercial services (Introduction). It then considers benefits and risks of trade (ch. IV). Key expected benefits are similar but risks differ by the mode of delivery. This serves as a basis for policy recommendations aimed at increasing benefits and reducing risks of trade (ch. V) in the context of ASEAN trade agreements (ch. III). While previous research on trade in education services focused on higher education and selected modes of delivery, the study covers all levels of education and all modes of trade. The authors have rejected balance of payments trade data as unreliable, and estimated trade flows on the basis of physical units and prices. One of the unexpected conclusions is, that, in ASEAN countries, trade in education services at the primary and secondary levels (through mode 3, commercial presence of international schools) matches in volume trade via mode 2 (movement of students abroad), typically considered as the largest trade flow. One of the highlights of the study is the examination of interactions between various types of trade and policy instruments