Recent dramatic improvements in transport and communications, especially information technology, have transformed the nature of production and distribution. Most products are now ‘made in the world’, with firms in many economies adding value along international production networks, or global value chains, in line with their ever-evolving comparative advantage. The word ‘trade’ is no longer an adequate description of global commerce. The flow of goods passing along value chains is just one thread within intertwined flows of services, financing, people movement and information.