Francis Gurry, nominated by the Co-ordination Committee of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (Wipo) to become the next Director General of Wipo, has emphasised his commitment to the effective implementation of the Wipo Development Agenda.
In his presentation, at the opening of the Wipo Committee on Development and Intellectual Property (CDIP), he pledged to personally supervise this important initiative in the future. A Wipo communication received here on Friday said that speaking at the invitation of Ambassador C. Trevor Clarke, CDIP Chairman Francis Gurry repeated his assurance of the importance which he attached to the Development Agenda.
"It is a major achievement for this Organisation to have adopted by consensus a Development Agenda," he said. Gurry said the Development Agenda was a major opportunity to address the role of intellectual property in development and the contribution of intellectual property to narrowing the knowledge gap and the digital divide.
"It is my firm view that the successful implementation of the Development Agenda is vital to the future success of this Organisation, he said. Gurry further underlined the important challenge of establishing a work programme that "ensures an appropriate implementation of the Development Agenda".
The Development Agenda was not merely a question of capacity building, Gurry told the CDIP, which was established by the Wipo General Assembly in October 2007 and was holding its second session (July 7-11). "The development dimension must be taken into account horizontally across the Organisation," he added.
Gurry said he intended to personally supervise the work of the Development Agenda. "It is not only to signal its importance but also because it is appropriate to ensure the co-ordination of all of the Organisation's activities with respect to the Development Agenda," he elaborated.
Francis Gurry, who is currently Deputy Director General of Wipo, made specific reference to proposals that seek to improve access to and efficient use of technological information contained in patent documents and scientific papers by research institutes and universities in developing countries.
He further alluded to the need to enhance the infrastructure and capacity of intellectual property offices of developing countries to enable them to participate more fully in the knowledge economy.
Gurry assured delegations that the appropriate budgetary resources would be made available to support the implementation of the proposals contained in the Development Agenda. This may be pertinent to mention that CDIP at its first meeting in March 2008, had moved forward in discussing the implementation of the Wipo Development Agenda.
The meeting adopted the rules of procedure of the CDIP and held detailed discussions on developing a work programme for implementation of the recommendations approved by the General Assembly.
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