?The Director General of the World Trade Organization Roberto Azevedo delivers a speech on the launch of the 2018 World Trade Report in Geneva, Switzerland, Oct. 3, 2018. Digital technologies will add up to 34 percentage points to trade growth by 2030, thanks to lower costs and higher productivity, the World Trade Organization (WTO) said in its 2018 World Trade Report. (Xinhua/Xu Jinquan)
GENEVA, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- Digital technologies will add up to 34 percentage points to trade growth by 2030, thanks to lower costs and higher productivity, the World Trade Organization (WTO) said in its 2018 World Trade Report.
According to the flagship report, digital technologies are likely to further reduce trade costs and boost trade significantly, especially in services and for developing countries.
The report said global trade is projected to grow by an additional 2.0 percentage points annually between 2016 and 2030 as a result of digitalization.
The report adds that the share of services in global trade is projected to grow from 21 percent in 2016 to 25 percent in 2030.
The reduction in trade costs could be especially beneficial for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), and firms from developing countries, provided they have the ability to keep up with the adoption of digital technologies.
"In the best scenario, developing and least-developed economies' share in global trade is predicted to grow to 57 percent by 2030, from 46 percent in 2015, whereas if they cannot keep up, this share is predicted to rise to 51 percent," according to the report.
However, the WTO warned that technologies could also create a challenging environment for those seeking to keep up with the latest innovations.
The report discusses how digital technologies can unlock savings, such as through better route planning, autonomous driving and smart inventories made possible by artificial intelligence and robotics.
