205. The representative of Bangladesh said that, broadly speaking, all technical cooperation under the DDA fell within either EIF or Aid for Trade. He thanked developed country Members for their reports on technical cooperation, although time had not allowed his delegation to look at them in detail. He was grateful to developed country Members for their technical assistance to LDCs and developing countries in general and to Bangladesh in particular. Technical cooperation was a core principle of development dimension in the WTO. As the poorest Members of the WTO, LDCs, as a group, deserved more technical cooperation than other Members to address their supply side limitation, comply with the TRIPS Agreement and integrate into the multilateral trading system. He said that he understood that LDCs had an obligation to implement the TRIPS Agreement. The problem was not willingness but capacity constraints. They were willing but not able to do so. To match willingness with ability, they needed technical assistance of the right kind and without constraint. Technical assistance to LDCs should not be conditional on the level of compliance with the TRIPS Agreement and LDCs needed policy space to implement the Agreement step by step. He recalled that developed country Members were committed to providing enhanced and targeted technical assistance under Article 67 to LDCs to effectively address the needs assessments mentioned in paragraph 2 of the TRIPS Council decision of 29 November 2005, and that technical cooperation was demand driven.
206. He said that Bangladesh had already prepared its needs assessment report in compliance with the aforementioned Council Decision. The report was going through a process of refining before submission to the WTO. He sought in advance developed country Members' attention to the needs identified by Bangladesh. It was also seeking assistance from WIPO and other relevant international organizations under paragraph 4 of the Decision. Finally, he referred to the recent LDC Ministerial Meeting in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, where Ministers had called upon WTO Members to provide financial and technical assistance to LDCs for their needs assessment and to develop their capacity in implementing the TRIPS Agreement.
