Services: The Next Battleground in Geopolitics?

For decades, global trade was dominated by goods like oil and cars. But a new report from BCG argues the real battleground of the future is in services. From cloud computing and fintech to streaming, services trade is projected to hit nearly $12 trillion by 2032, creating new tensions and ‘fault lines’" that will reshape the global economy.

Aparna Bharadwaj, Global Leader of the Global Advantage Practice at BCG, joins us to unpack these findings. She discusses why digital services have become geopolitical flashpoints, how governments are using non-tariff barriers like data localisation, and why businesses must now develop a ‘geopolitical muscle’.

We discuss:

• What services trade is and why it's growing twice as fast as goods.

• Why digital services (cloud, SaaS, fintech) are the new ‘fault lines’.

• The rise of non-tariff barriers like data localisation and digital taxes.

• Why businesses must build a ‘geopolitical muscle’ to survive.

For business leaders and policymakers, this is an essential guide to the new, complex, and high-stakes future of global commerce.

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