Meeting Concludes with Seoul Ministerial Declaration on Intellectual Property for Ldcs
Geneva, November 4, 2004
Press Updates UPD/2004/233
Ministers from least developed countries (LDCs), meeting under the auspices of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Seoul from October 25-27, 2004, agreed on the importance of intellectual property as a tool for development and pledged their commitment to intellectual property (IP) institution-building to serve their development objectives. The Ministerial Conference was organized with the generous support of the Government of the Republic of Korea.
In a final declaration, the Ministerial Conference on Intellectual Property for Least Developed Countries expressed "the importance of addressing the main problems facing our countries on IP institution building with a renewed sense of common concern, purpose and objectives, by seeking opportunities to strengthen regional and international cooperation for using intellectual property for promoting national development."
The Seoul Ministerial Declaration on Intellectual Property for the Least Developed Countries recognized the specific problems faced by LDCs including shortage of resources and a weak intellectual property infrastructure despite their efforts to build national IP institutions. The Declaration also recognized that the creation, protection, management and use of intellectual property rights would contribute to economic development through facilitating the transfer of technology, increasing employment and creating wealth. The declaration further reaffirmed the vital importance and desirability of improving the institutional and policy framework for the modernization and development of the IP systems and institutions in LDCs.
WIPO Director General Dr. Kamil Idris set up a Division in 1998 to provide assistance to LDCs to address their specific IP needs. This Division provides extensive assistance to LDCs in building intellectual property infrastructures and integrating intellectual property matters into a wider national policy framework. Delegates in Seoul urged WIPO to strengthen and enhance its assistance to LDCs in meeting all their intellectual property objectives and expressed their full support of the efforts of WIPO to promote further development of the international intellectual property system.
Participants thanked the Government of the Republic of Korea for hosting this event. They were especially appreciative of the opportunity to see a case study of successful use of intellectual property in a non-African country which forty years ago was at a similar stage of development to that of their own countries. The Republic of Korea has become increasingly involved in WIPO's activities for the benefit of developing and LDCs and has been particularly keen on sharing their experience in using the intellectual property system for growth and development. The Republic of Korea is an example of how a developing country has used the intellectual property system to promote development and wealth creation. Many Korean companies today are multinationals in the area of electronics, automobiles, telecommunications and information technologies and, more recently, in the area of biotechnology. They are holding an increasing share of global patenting activity and are owners of extremely successful trade and service marks, many of which are now famous marks. The conference in Seoul provided an opportunity for ministers of LDCs and their accompanying senior officials to see, first hand, the success of the Republic of Korea and to discuss and exchange experiences on integrating intellectual property into national development policies to promote wealth creation. The first hand observation of the Korean experience by the LDCs Ministers is thus an exemplary case of knowledge transfer across regional frontiers.
Twenty-one least developed countries participated in the meeting. Ministers present include those responsible for development, intellectual property, science and technology or trade and industry. Participants from Korean industry, research, universities and government also participated in the Conference.
The meeting was opened by Mr. Geoffrey Yu, Deputy Director General of WIPO, on behalf of Dr Idris, who emphasized the importance of intellectual property as a tool for development and reaffirmed the Organization's commitment to working closer with LDCs to help fulfill their development objectives. Mr. Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Laureate, Professor of Economics and Finance, Colombia University Graduate School of Business, New York, spoke on the theme of Integrating Intellectual Property into the National Development Policy of Least Developed Countries in a key note address. This was followed by a presentation by Mr. Chulsu Kim, President, Sejong University, Seoul, who examined the Korean experience. The conference covered a variety of subjects which were presented by experts from various backgrounds. Those subjects were dealt with under the following three themes: Enhancing Strategic Partnerships and Public-Private Sector Cooperation for Using Intellectual Property for Development, Economics of Intellectual Property, and Intellectual Property and Public Policy: Application of Flexibilities in the International Intellectual Property and Trading System.
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