During the last decades, the service industry has become an essential part of the economies of mature and developing or emerging markets. Technological development has further expanded the geographical reach of services in combination with increased trade and FDI in services. In addition, this digitalization has further enhanced the possibilities for firms and public sector to find new ways of interaction with users. The importance of services and digitalization has also been strengthened through the COVID19 pandemic, where GVCs and GPNs have seen the value of interconnected services being supplied at different geographical locations. Work on the development of data transfer, connectivity and sustainability has proven to become essential for entering a post-pandemic economy. Despite the possibility of bringing the world closer together, digitalization has also generated new challenges of uneven economic regional development in and among mature and developing countries. For the future, collaboration among mature countries in bilateral relations and through multilateral organizations together with developing countries will be essential to overcome a potential digital divide. There is a need for finding common ground for prosperous sustainable economic growth and interconnectedness of services and manufacturing that can benefit both mature and developing or emerging economies.
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