Mr. Chairman,
Director General Mr. Gurry,
Honorable Ministers,
Distinguished Delegates
Let me congratulate you, Mr. Chairman, on your election to the Chair of the WIPO General Assembly. I pledge the full support of my delegation to you in the conduct of meetings. My delegation is confident that with your experience and expertise, the meeting will reach a successful conclusion.
I would also like to express my sincere thanks to the outgoing chair for his leadership and professionalism.
It is a great pleasure and privilege for me to be at this first ever Ministerial meeting of the WIPO General Assembly.
I would like to commend the leadership of the Director General of the WIPO Dr. Francis Gurry for initiating innovative approach and putting IP at the center of development agenda. This ministerial meeting stands as an example of that commitment towards achieving the objectives of the organization. I also thank efficient team at the Secretariat for their hard work and dedication.
I appreciate the comprehensive report by Director General on developments since the last Assembly. We welcome his vision to address main challenges that we confront in the field of Intellectual Property.
Let me associate myself with the statement made by His Excellency Minister of Industry Mr. Dilip Barua of Bangladesh on behalf of LDCs Group, and also the statement made on behalf of the Asian Group.
Mr. Chairman,
We are happy to see a number of programs launched within the strategic framework of IP. It is encouraging to see the IP emerging as a driving force for promoting innovation, and creating new products for markets in this time of economic crisis.
I am happy to report that Nepal has greater potentiality in Intellectual Properties, especially Traditional Knowledge, Traditional Cultural Expression and Biodiversity for development. We are committed to develop these resources to serve our people. We support the issue of equitable distribution of benefits from Genetic Resources and Traditional Knowledge in international forums. Nepal is of the view that while using these resources; the users should always disclose the country of origin, should acquire the pre-consent of the originating country and should confirm the benefit sharing scheme with them.
I hope that this meeting will open a new chapter by taking a clear and strong position. In this regard my delegation would support the renewal of IGC with fixed mandate and timeline to come up with an effective and efficient legal instrument to protect the interest of the real owner of these properties.
Mr. Chairman,
My delegation urges for the full implementation of Development Agenda. While we commend the progress made so far, we should ensure that uncertainty about allocating funds for the implementation of these agenda must be over. I urge the Membership to allocate funds for important activities from the regular budget of WIPO, and help LDCs to create knowledge based trade for development.
For this to happen, the LDCs need technical and financial resources. For a LDC like Nepal that is making a democratic transition after over a decade long armed conflict and has specific needs, support is even more important. Hence we request our development partners to extend technical and financial support to develop this sector.
Mr. Chairman,
We welcome the attention of the WIPO to world’s poor countries. We appreciate efforts of the Director General to bring membership closer to the organization and create a sense of belongingness. The initiation of LDCs Ministerial Meetings, a High Level Segment in the General Assembly Meetings, planning a Ministerial Donor Conference, emphasizing inclusiveness and fair geographical representation in the organization, the launching of Access to Research and Development Innovation (ARDI) and project approach to implement the development programs are striking examples of it. We assure him of our full cooperation to strengthen and expand the role of WIPO in a rapidly changing environment of Twenty First Century.
Mr. Chairman,
Given the special situation of LDCs, and numerous difficulties and challenges they face, we feel that there is a need for a WIPO LDC Policy. This policy should aim to help LDCs to develop and modernize their IP system in the changing context and make it a powerful instrument of poverty reduction. We feel it necessary to intensify the use of IP to create a knowledge based society to promote linkages between development and IP and correct the imbalances posed by current economic crisis. Attention should be extended to include climate, and biodiversity, IP creation and protection, technology transfer, and the development of Small and Medium Enterprise {SMEs} in the WIPO agenda.
Nepal advocates for a special and differential treatment for LDCs. We believe that there should be separate, focused and sufficient program and budget for LDCs. LDCs unit need to be further strengthened. Representation in the organization also need to be made more inclusive, linguistically and geographically balanced.
Mr. Chairman,
Nepal is undergoing a political transformation after over a decade long armed conflict. We are engaged in the process of socio-economic transformation within the democratic framework. We need huge investment in the process of recovery and reconstruction in the post conflict phase to ensure rapid economic progress.
We note with satisfaction the ongoing cooperation between Nepal and the WIPO. It has helped to build human and institutional capacity in IP sector, to formulate new rules and regulations, to revise the existing legal documents and for the automation of IP System.
We believe the visit by High Level Nepalese Officials to the WIPO Headquarters in June has been an important dimension to advance and institutionalize this cooperation. I extend my sincere appreciation for this to the WIPO leadership and Asia Pacific Division and LDCs Division in particular.
Thank you for your kind attention.