Minutes - TRIPS Council - View details of the intervention/statement

Ambassador Federico A. González (Paraguay) (24-25 October) and Mr. Martin Glass (Hong Kong, China) (17 November)
L TECHNICAL COOPERATION AND CAPACITY-BUILDING
361. The representative of Switzerland thanked the WTO Secretariat for organizing the recently held symposium. It had provided an opportunity for least developed and developed country Members to share their views on the needs assessment process, as well as focusing on the steps required for further implementation, and making contact and exchanging information. He commended the delegations of Senegal, Tanzania, Rwanda, Bangladesh, Uganda and Sierra Leone for the work achieved and for sharing the information among WTO Members. 362. The symposium had shown that a number of open questions remained to be answered. Smaller countries needed to provide assistance with a focus on LDC Members in which they had substantial experience and resources available for development cooperation. Over the last year, Switzerland had intensified its work in the context of its technical assistance with Bangladesh. The next significant step towards implementation of the projects was planned to be taken shortly. Switzerland's bilateral cooperation for technical assistance could then be intensified. 363. His delegation expressed its interest in following closely the Secretariat's on-going work to ensure enhanced coordination between the various stakeholders involved. Those efforts and any further exploration of the crucial funding issue would facilitate their moving to the next stage of meeting the important needs of LDCs stemming from their priority needs assessment.
IP/C/M/67