67. The representative of Australia said that his delegation was in the process of compiling its updated information and would forward this shortly. He said that Australia was committed to cooperating with other countries in the delivery of focused technical assistance that addressed areas of priority need. Australia took these commitments seriously, reflecting its obligations under Article 67, sound commercial interests and a spirit of working cooperatively with other countries. Australia's specialized training project with Indonesia embodied all these principles. It had originated from careful consultations between Indonesia and Australia to identify priority requirements and the best ways to address them. It had led to a tailored process of targeted cooperation that matched the strengths and needs of the two countries and involved a high degree of personal exchanges and personal interaction that was effective in enhancing Indonesia's capacity for legislative development, administration and enforcement in the intellectual property area. Australia also cooperated bilaterally in this regard with many other countries, including Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Australia had also sought to cooperate at the multilateral and regional levels. Earlier in 1998, in conjunction with the Secretariat and the government of New Zealand, it had hosted a seminar on TRIPS for the least-developed, and certain other, countries of the Asia-Pacific region. In March 1998, Australia had held a workshop on the Asia-Pacific IP Office in the new millenium and had been actively engaged in the APEC Intellectual Property Group. He emphasized the importance Australia placed on technical cooperation, particularly in the lead-up to 1 January 2000. In so doing, his delegation encouraged Members to continue, and even increase, their commitment to technical cooperation.
