Opening Statement by India on behalf of the Asia Pacific Group at the 56th Session of the Assemblies of the Member states of WIPO,delivered by Ambassador Mr. Ajit Kumar, Permanent Representative of India to theUnited Nations as the Regional Coordinator

Mr. President,

1.        India has the honor to deliver this statement, on behalf of Asia & the Pacific Group

2.        At the outset I would like to congratulate you, on your assumption of this important leadership role, as the President of the Assemblies of the Member States of WIPO, and also congratulate other members of the Bureau, and express full confidence of our group in your experience and efficiency.

3.        The Group would also like to thank Director-General, Dr. Francis Gurry for his detailed and useful overview of WIPO’s work last year. We also wish to commend the work done by the Director General and his team.

4.        We would also like to thank the WIPO Secretariat for their hard work for the arrangements and the documentation for the meetings of the 56th series of meetings of the Assemblies of WIPO Member States.

Mr. President

5.        Asia & the Pacific Group believes that a fair, just and balanced intellectual property system should take care of the rights of innovators as well as the needs of people and larger good of society.

6.        Asia-Pacific region attaches great significance to intellectual property as an important catalyst to socio-economic and technological development. The Asia & the Pacific Region occupies about 60% of the total population and the number of PCT comprises of 43.5% of the total number of PCT in 2015. In addition, the growth in the number of PCT was recorded to be 9%, while the total growth in the number of PCT was 1.7%, which shows that the Asia Pacific Region has much potential in using WIPO IP global service efficaciously.

7.        On the Issue of hosting External Offices, the Asia-Pacific Group believes that the priority for the establishment of the WIPO EO should be given to Africa; at the same time, based on the Guiding Principles, our region deserves to host more WIPO EOs. Our group expects that Member States would give objective consideration to proposals submitted by Iran, India and Republic of Korea from the Asia & Pacific Group .

8. On the Report of the Office of Internal Oversight Services, the group has taken note of the former Chairs of General Assembly and Coordination Committee report and recommendations.  Asia Pacific Group is of the view that the issue of revision of Internal Oversight Charter and WIPO procurement principles and procedures should be undertaken in a manner so that this type of episode never occurs in future.

9.    We welcome the important steps initiated by WIPO Member States and the Secretariat to enhance WIPO’s development orientation in WIPO’s work. The CDIP, guided by the principle of the mainstreaming of development in all WIPO activities and making development to be an integral part of the Organization’s work,is an important committee within the Organization. Its work is dedicated to the implementation of the 45 Development Agenda (DA) Recommendations. In this respect, the group believes that all relevant bodies of WIPO should take due account of those recommendations in its activities.

10.       It is necessary to contextualize Intellectual Property Rights in the larger framework of development to ensure that IP regimes are suitably crafted and optimised in different countries so that it fosters a holistic socio-economic growth and sustainable development.

Mr. Chairman

11.      The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development came into force this year. It is an opportune moment for WIPO to recalibrate its efforts in order to implement the 2030 Agenda and create coherent linkages with the implementation of the WIPO Development Agenda. The work of WIPO should be in sync with the overarching dictum of  that is - “no one is left behind.”

Mr.President,

12.      We express satisfaction at the sound financial status of the Organisation at the end of 2015. The Group takes note of the report submitted by WIPO’s Independent Advisory Oversight Committee & acknowledges its important role in assisting Member States in undertaking their governance responsibilities of keeping an oversight on the functioning of WIPO.

13.      We acknowledge the substantive observations and specific recommendations made by the external auditor for the financial year 2015 regarding the delivery of various programs and activities by the WIPO management. We would like to thank the External Auditor for their continuous meticulous work and for making useful suggestions. It is a matter of personal joy for me to mention that the External Auditor of WIPO, is from India.

14.  Regarding the normative agenda of the Organization, we welcome that IGC could resume its work this year. The group supports the methodology adopted by Mr. Ian Goss, the current Chair of IGC. However, we would like to see an advance in IGC’s work with a view to narrow the existing gaps in the draft texts as stated in the decision of the General Assembly in 2015. It is important for the group to see the finalisation of the text(s) of an international legal instrument/instruments for effective protection of Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Traditional Cultural Expressions.

15.      We would like to see that the progress is made on the Broadcasting Treaty. We hope to arrive at closure in the negotiations based on the 2007 General Assembly mandate for the protection of broadcasting organization on a signal-based approach in the traditional sense.

16.      The Group notes that further work is needed in the ongoing negotiations on the draft Design Law Treaty. Specifically, the work on the draft Articles and the provision of technical assistance and capacity building in the treaty text.

17. A few days ago, the Marrakesh Treaty came into force. It is an international treaty, designed to deliver specially adapted texts to those affected by a range of disabilities that interfere with the effective reading of printed material. All Member States deserve to be congratulated for their earnest and sincere efforts in bringing this noble treaty into force.
Mr. President

18.      Encouraged by the Marrakesh Treaty, our group would like to actively engage with other members on discussions on Limitations and Exceptions for Educational, Teaching and Research Institutions and Persons with other disabilities, and Limitations and exceptions for libraries and archives. 

Mr. President

19.      Asia Pacific Group will participate in the work of the Assemblies with a positive spirit of multilateralism and constructive engagement. We hope to have a productive and result-oriented General Assembly.

20.       With these words, I once again thank you Mr. President.