Expert panel proposes UN technology bank for poor nations headquartered in Turkey

An expert panel formed by the UN chief to advise him on the feasibility of a technology bank for the least developed countries has proposed it be headquartered in Turkey.

In a report to the UN Secretary-General in New York on Tuesday, it said the ‘Technology Bank and Science, Technology and Innovation Supporting Mechanism’ was ‘feasible and desirable’.

The panel suggested it to be established next year.

Ban Ki-moon had formed the high-level panel in November last year, seeking advice on the organisational and operational aspects of the proposed bank.

Romain Murenzi, Executive Director of The World Academy of Sciences in Italy, and former Minister of Education, Science, Technology and Scientific Research of Rwanda, was the Chair of the Panel.

Its members included five women and five men from the least developed countries (LDCs) and their development partners from the North and the South.

Among them were Bangladeshi scientist Dr Firdausi Qadri, a director at the icddr,b.

The Secretary-General had asked them to make practical recommendations that could provide “a strong impetus to accelerating structural transformation and sustainable development of the LDCs”.

The panel was constituted in response to a request to the Secretary-General by the General Assembly, during its sixty-eighth session.

They were also asked to report to the Secretary-General in the seventieth session of the General Assembly.

The panel suggested that the technology bank should consist of two units – a Science, Technology and Innovation Support Mechanism, and an Intellectual Property Bank.

The recommendations stress the technology bank’s potential to strengthen national capabilities, support negotiated agreements, and provide expertise to the world’s least developed countries.

The bank can also ensure that the LDCs are no longer left behind in achieving internationally agreed development goals.

Modelled on the United Nations University, the report recommends that the technology bank should consist of a multi-stakeholder ‘Governing Council’ with 12 members appointed by the Secretary-General on a broad geographical basis.

The Governing Council will have representation from governments of LDCs and other UN member states, the global science, technology and innovation community, the private sector, philanthropic foundations, and civil society.