PRESS RELEASE For Immediate Release                                                                     ................... ..........Contact: Ekrem Sarper November 15, 2005                                                                       .................................. .(202) 289-7460 ext. 33 CSI Urges Greater Emphasis on Financial Services Negotiations in WTO Negotiations ( Washington, DC) “ The WTO financial services negotiations are progressing badly” said Norman Sorensen , Chairman , Coalition of Service Industries (CSI) and President & CEO, Principal International . Testifying before the Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary, Trade and Technology of the House Financial Services Committee , Sorensen said that “financial services offers on the table provide little or no new commercial opportunity.” Services account for 80% of US GDP, and 80% of U.S. jobs. The U.S. is the most competitive exporter of services, with a $50 billion surplus last year, $16 billion accounted for by financial services. “To achieve our goals for financial and other services, progress must be made in agriculture, business travel facilitation and safeguards. Demonstration of US willingness to engage these issues will help elicit the offers we need in financial services,” said Sorensen. Sorensen also urged that Congress communicate to negotiators that “services and financial services liberalization is a critical US interest. It would be very difficult for industry to support an agreement without a strong financial services component,” he said. Sorensen noted that financial services liberalization is first and foremost in the interest of the liberalizing country. Financial services form the infrastructure essential to economic development and are crucial to other areas of an economy. Countries where world class financial and other services are available are more attractive to foreign investment. # # # # Click here to view the text of the statement