Sri Lanka, BIMSTEC Secretariat agree on establishing technology transfer facility

The Sri Lanka government and the BIMSTEC Secretariat have signed an agreement to establish the BIMSTEC Technology Transfer Facility in the country.

The signing ceremony was held in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo Friday, marking a significant milestone in advancing regional cooperation in Science, Technology and Innovation, said a press release.

The agreement was signed by ML Gammampila, secretary (acting) at Ministry of Science and Technology of the Sri Lanka government and Indra Mani Pandey, BIMSTEC secretary general, on behalf of the BIMSTEC Secretariat.

The signing of the host country agreement reflects the shared commitment of the BIMSTEC States to strengthening cooperation in science, technology and innovation, including through creating mechanisms to support technology transfer for the benefit of the member states.

The signing of the agreement marks the final step towards operationalisation of the BIMSTEC Technology Transfer Facility, realising the long-standing commitment to establishing a functioning regional mechanism for facilitating technology transfer.

A governing board of the BIMSTEC Technology Transfer Facility has been constituted and the board convened its first Meeting virtually on 3 August in Colombo.

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As the lead country for science, technology and innovation sector and host country of the facility, Sri Lanka will coordinate with the member states, through the BIMSTEC Secretariat, to develop a common intellectual property framework to facilitate technology transfer among the BIMSTEC member States.

The proposed framework will be further discussed at the subsequent meetings of the governing board. Sri Lanka will also announce appointment of the executive director of the Facility at that meeting.

As the host country, Sri Lanka will play the role of anchor in operationalisation of the Facility, in close cooperation with the BIMSTEC Secretariat and the member states.