383. The representative of the European Union said that his delegation was committed to providing technical and financial co-operation to developing and least developed countries under Article 67 of the TRIPS Agreement. His delegation was ready to look at in a positive spirit LDC submissions on their priority needs for technical and financial co-operation in order to assist them taking the steps necessary to implement the Agreement. It was crucial to ensure maximum co-ordination among the providers of technical assistance to avoid waste of resources and duplication of efforts. Uganda and Sierra Leone had submitted their individual needs, and his delegation had been in contact with these countries on how to assist and support them. It had agreed to support a number of activities identified by Uganda, which had already benefited from several projects. The European Union had also been working with Sierra Leone and hoped to be able to provide shortly the same kind of assistance and support to it. With regard to the request from Bangladesh, his delegation had initiated a three-year project of technical co-operation, the purpose of which was to strengthen national capacity to develop, modernize, administer and use the IP system to meet national developmental objectives taking into account the relevant international standards including the TRIPS Agreement. Furthermore, he welcomed the requests more recently submitted by Rwanda and Tanzania, and was ready to consider them in the context of existing programmes. Moreover, his delegation had participated in the WTO workshops held in Entebbe on 1-3 June and in Dhaka on 27-29 July 2010, and intended to participate in the upcoming workshop in Dakar on 9-11 November 2010. The European Union stood ready to consider any submission of priority needs by other LDC Members, in co-ordination with existing multilateral mechanisms, and encouraged other developed country Members to contribute to this important process.
