Developing Countries Share Experiences in Peru
June 12, 2015
Developing Countries Share South-South Experiences
An inter-regional expert meeting on South-South and triangular cooperation for access to information and knowledge, innovation support, and technology transfer took place on May 5 and 6, 2015 in Lima (Peru), bringing together around 50 experts from 20 developing countries and other representatives of developed countries, regional and international governmental organizations. The aim was to share knowledge and experiences and showcase successful South-South and triangular cooperation initiatives in the field of access to information and knowledge, innovation support, and technology transfer.
Participants from the Africa, Arab, Asia and the Pacific, and Latin America and the Caribbean regions gathered for the meeting in order to share experiences and lessons learned from implementing collaborative South-South and triangular partnerships on intellectual property (IP). All of the partnerships were established with the purpose of enhancing access to IP information and knowledge, innovation support, and technology transfer.
Diverse South-South and triangular cooperation initiatives
From knowledge-exchange tools, patent information exchange platforms and innovation promotion and technology transfer initiatives to dedicated agencies, programs, and funds, participants showcased a wide range of successful cooperation initiatives and shared their views on lessons learned, challenges, and opportunities over two intensive days of discussions. Some of the key partnerships/projects are listed below:
- The ARABPAT project
- The LATIPAT and PROSUR initiatives
- The Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) Intellectual Property Offices Cooperation initiative
- The African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) patent information sharing platform
- The African Innovation Foundation Innovation Prize for Africa Initiative
- The Joint Support initiative of South Africa and Finland to the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and SANBio
- The Brazil Funds-in-Trust (FIT) for South-South Cooperation
- The Egyptian Agency for Development Partnerships
- The Ibero-American Program of Industrial Property (IBEPI)
- The Ibero-American Program of Science and Technology for Development Network for the Strengthening of an Intellectual Property Culture in Latin America (REFOPRI)
"South-South and triangular cooperation offer a path to balancing growth and equity in the context of a new Global Partnership for Sustainable Development and offer real, concrete solutions to common development challenges. Sharing best practices, funding pilot projects in far-flung locales, providing the capital to scale-up successful projects, supplying regional public goods, developing and adapting appropriate technologies —these are the opportunities that the international community needs to better leverage. I encourage countries of the South and all development partners to come together to share, disseminate and scale up successful development solutions and technologies”, remarked Mr. Rogel Nuguid, United Nations system-wide Inter-agency and Multilateral Coordinator and Focal Point of the Latin America Region on South-South and Triangular cooperation, United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC), quoting the United Nations Secretary-General Mr. Ban Ki-moon.
This message was further emphasized by Mr. Hebert Tassano, President of the Board, National Institute for the Defense of Competition and Protection of Intellectual Property (INDECOPI) who highlighted in his concluding remarks the importance of inter-regional meetings of this nature for sharing experiences and best practices and for fostering new partnerships: “ la unión hace la fuerza” [united we stand], he remarked.
South-South cooperation and WIPO's Development Agenda
Organized in the framework of the WIPO Development Agenda Project on Enhancing South-South Cooperation on IP and Development among Developing Countries and LDCs, the meeting also provided an opportunity for WIPO to present its South-South web platform and tools and its cooperation with UNOSSC which promotes, coordinates and supports South-South and triangular cooperation at the United Nations system-wide level.
Participants joined their voices in calling for WIPO’s work on South-South cooperation to continue beyond the Development Agenda Project on South-South Cooperation and to be integrated into the Organization’s Program and Budget.
In the final session of the meeting on lessons learned, challenges and opportunities for South-South and triangular cooperation on access to information and knowledge, innovation support, and technology transfer, the focus was firmly on the need for greater dissemination of best practices among countries of the South. In addition participants discussed the need for concrete projects and initiatives to build on the results of the inter-regional expert meetings; the role of WIPO as a catalyst, convener and facilitator of South-South cooperation; and the importance of using existing resources and platforms, including the WIPO IP Development Matchmaking Database to strengthen cooperation among developing countries and LDCs, focusing on their complementarities and on capacity-building initiatives.
The meeting was organized by WIPO, in cooperation with the National Institute for the Defense of Competition and Protection of Intellectual Property (INDECOPI) of Peru.
Useful resources
(Photo: INDECOPI).