386. The representative of Egypt believed that technical cooperation and capacity building activities were a core function and mandate in the TRIPS system, as well as in the broader context of the international IP system. Such activities had to go beyond generating IP awareness and capacity building in national IP offices aiming at facilitating more efficient award and protection of IP rights. They should focus on promoting domestic innovation, fostering a development-oriented IP culture and provide balanced advice on appropriate national IP strategies based on available flexibilities, exceptions and limitations. They should ensure the transparency, neutrality and effectiveness of technical assistance and capacity building programmes. These programmes should support the development of national scientific and technological infrastructure in developing countries, in accordance with their national priorities and different levels of development. Technical cooperation and capacity building activities must be provided in a balanced manner, conducted in a transparent and neutral fashion, and delivered through channels that involve no conflict of interests. In this regard, Egypt believed that the principles contained in Cluster A of the WIPO Development Agenda provided universally agreed principles on technical assistance and capacity building in the IP field that should be adhered to in other institutional settings, both multilaterally such as in the WTO context, and in bilateral and regional contexts.
387. He welcomed the updates presented by the delegations of Norway, Australia, Switzerland, Japan, New Zealand, the United States and Canada, as well as the information by intergovernmental organizations. Expressing his appreciation of the WIPO Secretariat's report, he said that it was his understanding that WIPO was currently undertaking a project evaluating its technical cooperation activities, to be presented to its Committee on Development and IP in its next session. He believed that such an exercise of evaluating cooperation activities in a systematic manner brought good value to members. He said that this was an idea that could be considered by the TRIPS Council in view of the increasing number of reports on such activities submitted to the Council over the years.
