[Ecommerce] Statement by the Sri Lanka delegation at the Third Session of the IIM

[Thiru Balasubramaniam]

This statement was delivered in the afternoon session of Friday's
session of the 3rd IIM at WIPO on July 22, 2005.







---------------------------------------------------------------------------=
--------

Statement by the Sri Lanka delegation at the Third Session of the IIM
on a Development Agenda for WIPO =96 20-22 July, 2005
(Ambassador Sarala Fernando)

Mr. Chairman,

We appreciate the strenuous effort you have made in the informal
consultations to develop a consensus which would enable us to move in a
positive direction to the General Assembly. It is rather sad that even
when there seemed to be a large majority of views converging on a
recommendation to the General Assembly to continue the IIM process into
2006, this consensus was not achieved so we will have to settle for a
factual report.

You have the honour to preside over a set of meetings which is truly
historic within this organization. This is perhaps the first time a
group of developing countries have sought to stimulate a comprehensive
debate on the issues of development with a view to encouraging this
organization to pursue development oriented results. We thank the
Friends of Development for bringing the Development Agenda before WIPO
at this moment in time when a broad reform process for the UN system,
even as we speak, is being negotiated by our colleagues in New York.

At this late hour, my delegation would wish to make a few points briefly:

It must be noted that each session of the IIM has brought new proposals
from member states, which have enriched the debate and our understanding
of how development considerations could be incorporated into different
aspects of WIPO=92s work. This is an year in which special attention has
been given on many different UN and international fora to an analyses of
the special needs of developing countries and we thank the African Group
for reminding us of the call by the Second South Summit held recently in
Doha for WIPO to integrate a Development Agenda into all its various
activities. The thoughtful proposal by the African Group still remains
to be discussed. It is in this context, that we fully support the
Brazilian proposal to organize three additional, three day IIMs in 2006
which could report back to the General Assembly next year for
appropriation action.

We also appreciate the Secretariat=92s recent efforts to respond to the
concerns raised by the developing countries. The preface to the document
issued a few days ago listing WIPO=92s development cooperation activities
states that there has been a major shift in the focus and priorities of
the development cooperation programme of WIPO. We note, for instance,
WIPO=92s affirmation that it stands ready to provide general or specific
advice on using the flexibilities in the TRIPS Agreement and WIPO
treaties to enable developing countries to make informed decisions in
their national policies and strategies. Such advice is particularly
useful for developing countries in the field of public health, access to
knowledge and education. We appreciate the leadership of
Director-General Idris in this regard and request him to further pursue
these efforts.

Mr. Chairman,

The proposal by the delegation of Brazil also refers to the
establishment of an independent WIPO evaluation and research office.
This proposal, in fact, is in line with recent trends to establish
similar structures in many UN and international organizations. I would
recall, for instance, that in the IMF, an independent evaluation office
has been established since four years which has the aim to provide
objective analyses of various aspects of its work including technical
assistance has already enabled a greater degree of transparency on
development issues.

Mr. Chairman,

My delegation, in a statement to an earlier session of the IIM had also
supported the participation of civil society and public interest groups
in our discussions in WIPO. Their voice is particularly important on
issues such as software patents, an area of interest to both developed
and developing countries and on which it appears there are many views as
to the limits of harmonization of patents vis-=E0-vis the promotion of
creativity. My delegation would suggest that WIPO organize some
interactive panel discussions pertaining to the use of ICT for
Development including IPR aspects of free and open source software as a
contribution to the WSIS process in order to both open up some risk free
space for dialogue and to create a path towards that welcome synergy,
coordination and harmonization of efforts within the UN system which the
African Group has so rightly underlined in their proposal submitted to
the third session of the IIM.