55. In conclusion, the Chairman said that the discussion had been a useful first foray into the subject. The Council should come back to the issue at its next meeting, when delegations would have had further time to absorb all the information made available. Moreover, a number of interesting ideas had been raised which required further reflection: the Japanese proposal for the submission by developing countries of their needs for technical assistance to the Secretariat; various other suggestions relating to training and seminars; and the proposal for a more uniform format, which seemed to have its supporters and its opponents. A recurrent theme in many of the statements had also been the importance attached to cooperation with other intergovernmental organizations, in particular WIPO. Many Members had expressed appreciation for the efforts already being deployed by WIPO which were of great value in assisting them in the implementation of their TRIPS obligations and the hope that WIPO might be able to enhance these activities in future. Certainly, that matter would come up again under the next agenda item, given the emphasis put by some delegations on the importance of maintaining close contacts between the WTO and WIPO.
