Course on International Trade in Goods and Services

The course was held from July 29 to August 2, 2024 at the CEMLA facilities with the cooperation of the Statistics Department of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The main objective of the course was to provide a deep understanding of the concepts, data sources and compilation techniques of international trade statistics in goods and services, as well as their application to complex methodological problems.

The course consisted of presentations and workshops that allowed learning about issues of international trade in goods and provided a forum for the exchange of experiences from different cases presented by the participants. The challenges in compiling foreign trade data in emerging areas were analyzed and specific topics were highlighted, such as estimating informal cross-border activities and digitalization. The course examined issues and challenges that arise as a result of the evolution of the global economy and discussed their impact on the work of compiling foreign trade data. The exercises developed in the workshops were aimed at integrating the knowledge acquired in the course into its practical application.

The course began by providing a general overview of the goods and services account in the general framework of the balance of payments, the conciliation of information with international merchandise trade statistics and various issues in the compilation of information on the goods account. Subsequently, the services account was addressed, starting with manufacturing services on physical inputs belonging to others and the purchase of goods for resale, construction, transportation, travel and their links with tourism satellite accounts.

Subsequently, issues relating to financial services, insurance and pensions and other services, such as charges for the use of intellectual property, government services and other business services, were addressed. Finally, emerging issues in international trade such as globalization and digitalization were addressed.

There were 21 participants from 8 countries in attendance, in addition to the IMF speakers.