Certain aspects of IPRs which provide excessive protection to technologies designed in the advanced world, which are of crucial importance to the developing world, may have also to be adapted to better serve the needs of the latter. A case in point is the patent protections on pharmaceuticals which can be produced as “generics”, but which are extended to 20 years and more. For a number of developing countries – and even advanced countries, notably Asian ones with strong mass production capabilities, – this constitutes a particularly problematic situation<sup>27</sup> .

# **_Brain drain_**

Up to one-third of R&D professionals from the developing world reside in the OECD area. This brain drain represents a significant challenge for developing countries seeking to upgrade their knowledge bases. However, the migration of skills can be slowed through the return of expatriates to their country of origin, as demonstrated by the examples of Israel, Greater China, and more recently India and Mexico, whose diaspora communities have been mobilized to transfer, teach, and upgrade the vital technical and managerial skills needed in their countries.

There are essentially four main ways in which diaspora can nurture the knowledge base in their home countries:

- 1) By returning home with new knowledge gained elsewhere (e.g. Taiwan).  This rarely happens on a large scale without professional and financial incentives provided by the government.  The home country must be able to provide the infrastructure and career opportunities necessary to meet the aspirations workers may have developed during their stay abroad.

- 2) Through foreign direct investment (e.g. Chinese diaspora).

- 3) By acting as mediators between foreign and local partners (e.g. India). Indian expatriates have maneuvered as brokers between Indian companies and US partners intending to invest in India, and have provided valuable links with foreign markets notably helping US buyers to find suppliers in India, hence boosting outsourcing potential in India.

- 4) Through sending back money to their home country, i.e. remittances. Remittances from foreign workers, both permanent and temporary, are the second-largest source of external funding for developing countries, after foreign direct investment<sup>28</sup> .

# **7. Cultural specificities and innovation policies**

Development processes, and innovation climates in particular, are considerably affected by socio-cultural patterns proper to each civilization, country and even to each region within a country. This has been obvious from developed countries and is

> 27 So far only drugs related to HIVs/Aids have benefited of reduced patent protection.

> 28 In 2001, workers’ remittances to developing countries abroad stood at $72.3 billion, considerably higher than total official development assistance and private non-FDI flows, and 42 percent of total FDI flows to developing countries that year. For most of the 1990s, remittance receipts exceeded official development assistance.  In nominal terms, the top recipients of remittances included several large developing economies – India, Mexico, and the Philippines – although a share of GDP, remittances were larger in other low-income countries in 2001.  Source: Global Economic Prospects, World Bank,  2003.

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