..Press Release................................ UNESCAP News Services

Date 23 July 2007
Press Release No: N/33/2007

Forum addresses intellectual property rights and their effect on development

UNESCAP/WIPO/WTO workshops take place in Macao

Bangkok (United Nations Information Services) -- With the emergence of effective medicines that combat HIV and a wide range of other diseases, a massive industry has emerged which supplies cheap copies of these medicines to people who could not otherwise afford them. This constitutes a major dilemma for those who wish to protect intellectual property rights while safeguarding the health of the poor.

In an effort to address these and other trade related intellectual property rights (TRIPS) issues, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), is holding the High Level Forum on Intellectual Property Rights and Trade in cooperation with the Worldwide Academy of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The Forum takes place in Macao, China, from 23 to 25 July.

Over one hundred senior officials and representatives from the private sector and NGOs from the Asia-Pacific region are attending the Forum which is broadly addressing the role of intellectual property rights in trade and development. The Forum is focusing on the relationship between trade-related intellectual property rights and public health and how to strike a balance between all stakeholders, such as the region’s poor and pharmaceutical companies.

The Forum is also addressing a wide range of other issues surrounding intellectual property rights, such as enforcement, biodiversity and traditional knowledge. In addition the Forum is addressing the need for common policies on intellectual property rights, trade, investment and competition. The meeting was opened by Francis Tam Pak Yuen, Secretary for Economy and Finance of the government of the Macao Special Administrative Region. Following the Forum, a joint WTO/ESCAP regional workshop on the TRIPS Agreement and public health will be held from 25 to 27 July.

For coverage of the meeting, please contact:

Brian Thomson
United Nations Information Service
Tel: (662) 228 – 1869
E-mail: thomsonb@un.org

For further information on Intellectual Property Rights, please contact:

Marc Proksch
Economic Affairs Officer
Trade Policy Section
Trade and Investment Division
Tel: (662) 288 – 1680
E-mail: itid.unescap@un.org