Notification 2005-043

Dear Madam/Sir, By paragraph 7 of decision VII/29, the Conference of the Parties requested the Executive Secretary to establish an expert group on technology transfer and scientific and technical cooperation, balanced regionally as well as in respect to expertise, which shall assist the Executive Secretary, through electronic consultations and long-distance communications as well as through meetings in conjunction with the informal advisory committee of the clearing-house mechanism, in the preparation of proposals on options to apply measures and mechanisms to facilitate access to and adaptation of technologies, and in the exploration of possibilities and mechanisms of cooperation with processes in other Conventions. Further to this request, experts have been selected and been provided with further information regarding consultations by means of long-distance communication as well as an electronic forum established under the CBD web site (see notification 2004/104). A meeting of this group has been tentatively scheduled to take place back-to-back with the eleventh meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice, which will be held in Montreal, Canada during the last quarter of 2005. The purpose of this meeting is to assist in the preparation of documentation as requested by the Conference of the Parties, in conjunction with the informal advisory committee of the clearing-house mechanism as appropriate. However, funding for this meeting has not been secured thus far. The Secretariat therefore wishes to invite Parties and Governments to provide financial resources to facilitate the holding of the meeting. The estimated cost for this meeting is US-$ 53,000.00.

Executive Secretary

To: CBD National Focal Points