Services are the backbone of the modern economy, accounting for 67% of global GDP, 70% of global FDI and up to four out of five jobs in advanced economies. Digitalization, AI, increasingly service-based business models and the growing integration of goods and services are also changing how economic value is created and delivered across borders.

At the same time, regulatory and technical fragmentation is creating new challenges for internationally operating businesses. Diverging approaches to areas such as cross-border data flows, cloud and platform regulation, AI governance, payments, professional qualifications, sustainability requirements and technical standards can make it more difficult for services and service-enabled business models to operate across markets.

The World Economic Forum’s Global Services Initiative brings together businesses, policymakers and experts across sectors and regions to understand these developments and identify practical opportunities to strengthen cross-border services. Through its Global Services Community, business case studies, cross-sector insights, expert working groups and public-private dialogue, the Initiative translates business experience into actionable insights and explores where regulatory cooperation, interoperability, recognition, international standards and industry-led approaches can reduce unnecessary cross-border friction while preserving legitimate regulatory objectives.