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Bangladesh appreciates the consultative process undertaken by the Secretariat in preparing the Medium Term Strategic Plan (MTSP).
We would like to express our appreciation to the Secretariat for reflecting the challenges and concerns of the Least Developed Countries in MTSP, especially under Strategic Goals II and III. As the WIPO Development Agenda is being mainstreamed into all activities of the Orgaisation, it is expected that the needs and challenges of LDCs would be increasingly factored into all programmes and activities of WIPO. Accordingly, this delegation would have liked to see a reflection of these challenges and concerns in the ‘Foreword’ by the Director General. As universally recognized, LDCs face specific systemic challenges in terms of devising the role of IP for promoting innovation, growth and development in their economies. These challenges would require well-calibrated and customized solutions as most LDCs around the globe continue to pursue a higher growth trajectory through greater industrialization.
This delegation would endorse the proposal to identify the WIPO Development Agenda as a cross-cutting frame of reference for MTSP. In this context, the Chart demonstrating the WIPO Development Agenda linkages with the WIPO Strategic Goals are particularly useful. The WIPO Development Agenda has indeed been a landmark development in the history of the Organisation which merits due recognition in a seminal document like MTSP. The WIPO LDC Ministerial Declaration 2009 makes specific reference to the Development Agenda while charting the way forward for the Organisation in support of LDCs for developing their IP policies and infrastructure. The LDC Ten-point Plan of Action also remains a blueprint for designing WIPO’s support services for LDCs in the short and medium term.
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This delegation would like to take this opportunity make some general comments in this regard under some of the Strategic Goals under MTSP:
Strategic Goal I: Balanced Evolution of the International Normative Framework for Intellectual Property
A balanced and equitable international normative framework on IP would be crucial to ensure that LDCs attain the capacity to become true stakeholders in the international IP system. LDCs would require sustained and meaningful support from WIPO to facilitate their full and effective engagement in the international IP-related norm-setting process. The international agreements envisaged to be concluded in the medium term under this Strategic Goal should continue to have in-built provisions on flexibilities and exception and limitations in favour of LDCs that can be conducive to their development efforts. In this context, the background technical studies conducted by WIPO need to be balanced, objective and evidence-based in order to reflect both the common as well as nuanced variations in the challenges faced by LDCs. A broad-brush presentation of the situation of LDCs may often by counter-productive and there is a need for greater sensitivity in this regard. The international normative framework must essentially retain the policy space that would be critical for LDCs in calibrating their IP policies in support of their poverty reduction and national development strategies. LDCs would particularly benefit from a selective approach to those IP tools that could foster the growth of their Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and help add economic and commercial value to their indigenous products and services. The importance of need-based and tailor-made capacity building support for LDCs in this context cannot be overemphasized.
Strategic Goal II: Provision of Premier Global IP Services
As a UN specialized agency, WIPO remains the premier IP services provider for LDCs. In fact, a major yardstick for measuring WIPO’s success would continue to be the extent and impact of its services for LDCs. While the Organisation focuses on improving the quality of its services for its global customers, it should continue to remain engaged on designing and customizing its services for the benefit of users in LDCs. In this context, this delegation supports the four principal aims identified under the strategies under this Goal. In order to translate these aims into real-term deliverables, particularly for LDCs, it would be important to develop innovative services through multi-stakeholders participation. The recent WIPO initiatives to introduce services like aRDi and ASPI in favour of LDCs and other developing countries are welcome developments in this direction. There is a need for innovating further customized products and services within services like PATENTSCOPE to make their use attractive for potential users in LDCs. The relevance of WIPO services would in fact create an impetus for LDCs to become Parties to the international IP instruments mentioned under this Strategic Goals. The policy advice given to LDCs in terms of accession to various international IP instruments should be based on sound and long-term cost-benefit analysis of such accession. The decision to accede to an international IP instrument should have to be taken from within the development policy considerations of LDCs, and not necessarily in response to the interest of IP rights-holders. WIPO should continue to advocate in favour of maintaining a robust public domain for facilitating the access of LDCs to global knowledge and technology.
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Strategic Goals III: Facilitation the Use of IP for Development
It would be of high importance for LDCs to see meaningful realization of this Strategic Goal in MTSP to accelerate their development efforts. A balanced perspective on the use of IP would be key to achieving this. IP should be promoted as a tool to foster innovation and creativity, and not as an end in itself. The policy coherence issue addressed under this Strategic Goal should, therefore, help situate IP in its right context in terms of national development policies in LDCs. The focus on the use of IP in these countries should be geared at helping these countries develop new products and services for their internal and external markets through greater innovation and access. IP should be perceived as one of the vehicles for achieving the Millennium Development Goals to make IP protection factor into the national development policies of LDCs. Here again, it would be crucial to ensure need-based, customized approaches for providing capacity building support to LDCs. WIPO should continue to extend the reach of its technical assistance programmes beyond the traditional focus areas of capacity building and IP protection and enforcement, and help LDCs develop their capacity for meaningful participation in the international norm-setting process and bilateral negotiations. The WIPO Academy could consider specialized courses to cater to the particular human resource development needs of LDCs. The WIPO External Office policy should also consider how best such Offices would be able to serve the needs and interests of LDCs in different regions.
Strategic Goal IV: Coordination and Development of Global IP Infrastructure
Most LDCs are characterized by chronic shortage of adequate IP infrastructure that can help them effectively integrate into the global IP system. The present thrust on IP modernization and automation in many LDCs is a positive step in addressing this situation. In the medium term, WIPO should consider extending the scope of its activities in this regard. Such modernization would involve significant shift in the work culture of most LDCs and would perhaps be marked by various impediments at the initial stage. However, the experiences gathered in a particular setting could be helpful to devise useful strategies in other settings. It needs to be borne in mind that automation alone would not yield the desired results without factoring in the other key systemic issues addressed under the Strategic Goals I and III, in particular.
Strategic Goal VI: International Cooperation on Building Respect for Intellectual Property
The issues identified under this Strategic Goal are a growing challenge for many LDCs. It however needs to be recognized that the problems of counterfeiting and piracy fosters in an environment of lack of access. The issues of counterfeiting and piracy cannot be addressed only through enhancing further respect for IP without dealing with some of the underlying issues that lead to these problems. While addressing these problems, LDCs should be allowed to preserve their policy space so as not to harm the growth of their domestic industries under the pretext of excessive IP protection. WIPO should continue to advice LDCs on appropriate policy and regulatory frameworks that help them strike the right balance in this regard. WIPO should also give sound policy advice to LDCs in terms of undertaking obligations beyond the TRIPS Agreement, especially in bilateral or plurilateral Free Trade Agreements.
Strategic Goal VII: Addressing IP in Relation to Global Policy Issues
While this delegation agrees with the broad thrust of the Strategic Outcome under these goals, it considers that WIPO should position itself as one of the leading UN agencies in addressing the interface between IP and global public policy issues. As WIPO is engaged in mainstreaming the development dimension into all its activities, the Organisation’s inputs would particularly and increasingly important for global policy debates and norm-setting activities. However, such global policy issues need to be identified in member-driven process in order to uphold the UN-character of the Organisation. It would be crucial for LDCs to remain involved in such global discourse of IP issues in order to make the debates relevant for them. In terms of policy inputs, WIPO should focus on empirical and analytical studies that can help find practical solutions for many of the pressing and emerging global issues, especially in the context of LDCs. WIPO should develop a repository of global best practices and practicable innovation and licensing models that can be replicated in specific settings in LDCs.
Finally, this delegation looks forward to effective WIPO contribution and engagement during the lead-up to the UN LDC Conference scheduled in 2011 in Istanbul. Bangladesh remains ready to work together with WIPO and other delegations in this process.
Geneva, 27 September 2010
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BELGIUM
