The guiding principle for Asian policy makers must be to create more
competitive environments for their service industries. Many are dominated
by SOEs protected by regulatory barriers to competition from domestic startups.
Trade and FDI barriers similarly protect them from foreign competitors.
390 Developing the Service Sector as an Engine of Growth for Asia
Removing these and other anti-competitive impediments is key to promoting
competition. More competition will raise service sector productivity which can
in turn lift productivity in other sectors.