Invitation

January 19, 2026 Modalities Informal Meeting of the WIPO Coordination Committee for the Presentations by Candidates for the Post of Director General of WIPO January 27, 2026 WIPO Conference Hall I. Multimedia presentations/promotional materials No multimedia applications (e.g., video clips and similar) will be permitted in the context of the candidate presentations, given the potential for technical difficulties and/or resulting delays, as well as in light of the very purpose of the meeting to engage directly with the candidates in person. Candidates are, however, free to provide written promotional materials (such as pamphlets, links to online versions etc.), to delegations present, but are asked to make arrangements with the Secretariat in advance. A designated table, outside the meeting room, will be provided for such materials so as not to disturb the proceedings or incur additional time. The use of text-based powerpoint presentations by candidates will be permitted, provided that each candidate be responsible for their own presentation and that the powerpoint slides are shown in all six United Nations (UN) languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish). II. Webcasting and recording No external or internal webcasting of the informal meeting will take place. However, the informal meeting will be recorded by WIPO only for the purpose of being made accessible to delegations on a password-protected portion of the website following the conclusion of the interviews. Delegates are kindly requested to refrain from making any recordings or other digital transmissions of the meeting, or from publicizing information from the informal meeting via social media. III. Order of appearance and length of presentations On January 19, 2026, in a meeting with the Vice-Chairs of the WIPO Coordination Committee and WIPO Group Coordinators, the Chair of the WIPO Coordination Committee drew lots to determine the order in which candidates will appear before the Member States. The order of appearance of candidates will be shared with all Member States, through Group Coordinators, prior to the informal meeting. As candidates will appear before Member States individually, no other candidate will be present or permitted in the room during the presentation of a fellow candidate.  2 A total of 60 minutes will be allotted to each candidate, which will include: 10 minutes for a presentation given by the candidate; 21 minutes to provide answers to pre-submitted questions by WIPO Groups; and 21 minutes to provide answers to spontaneous questions by Member States. It will be necessary to conform strictly to the schedule, which allows time for the entering and exiting of candidates. IV. Pre-submitted questions Candidates will be asked the same seven questions during the informal meeting. Member States that have proposed a candidate are kindly requested to share the questions with their respective candidate. In addition to answering the questions orally, candidates may also provide written responses to the questions, which may be circulated among Members and observers of the WIPO Coordination Committee by the respective Member State that has proposed the candidate providing the written response. V. Spontaneous questions Following the conclusion of the Pre-Submitted Question segment, Member States will have an opportunity to pose spontaneous questions to the candidate. Those Member States wishing to do so must signal their interest before the end of the respective candidate’s Pre-Submitted Question segment. The order in which Member States pose a spontaneous question will be determined by individual lot drawn randomly from the pool of Member States that have indicated their wish, with priority given to the Members of the WIPO Coordination Committee before observer States. The process of drawing successive Member States to pose a question will continue until the time period (21 minutes) for this segment is exhausted or until there are no Member States left in the pool. For the sake of efficiency, delegates are kindly requested to pose their respective question in less than 30 seconds. While it is not prohibited for a delegation to pose a spontaneous question to its proposed candidate, the Chair of the WIPO Coordination Committee seeks the cooperation of Member States in refraining from doing so. VI. Time limit for answering questions Answers to each pre-submitted question should not exceed three minutes so that all seven questions can be answered. Answers to each spontaneous question should not exceed a maximum of three minutes so that at least seven questions can be posed.  3 VII. Content and conduct of questioning Member States shall pose questions to candidates in accordance with the General Principles as stipulated in the 2019 Procedures for the Nomination and Appointment of Directors General of WIPO. Accordingly, questions in the context of the selection of a candidate for Director General shall be guided by respect for the dignity of the candidates, as well as the countries nominating them, and transparency of the nomination process. VIII. Attendance As reflected in Circular Note 4251, dated December 18, 2025, Member States are reminded that attendance at the informal meeting is limited to WIPO Coordination Committee Members and observer States. Further, the number of seats per delegation will be limited to five for each Member of the Coordination Committee, and two for each observer. IX. Interpretation Interpretation will be provided into all six UN languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish). [End of document] WIPO WORLD INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ORGANIZATION C. N 4254 The Chair of the Coordination Committee of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), H.E. Ambassador James Baxter, presents his compliments and, referring to Circular N. 4251 dated December 18, 2025, inviting the governments of the States members of the WIPO Coordination Committee and, as observers, the governments of the States members of WIPO not members of that Committee to be represented at the informal meeting of the Coordination Committee, which will take place on January 27, 2026, at WIPO Headquarters, in Geneva, and will open at 11:00 a m. (CET), has the honor to ./. enclose the Modalities for the Informal Meeting of the Coordination Committee for the Presentations by Candidates for the Post of Director General of WIPO and the Final List of Seven Pre-Submitted Questions from WIPO Groups to be asked of each Candidate at the informal meeting. January 23, 2026 34. Ghemin des Colombettes CH-1211 Geneva 20 Swazeriand T +41 22 338 91 11 F *41 22 733 54 28 www.wipo.int Saatja: "E-documents" <[email protected]> Saaja: "E-documents" <[email protected]> Teema: WIPO-Invitation: Informal Meeting of the Coordination Committee for the Presentations by Candidates Proposed for Nomination to the Post of Director General of WIPO Kuupäev: 2026-01-23 16:51 Tähelepanu! Tegemist on välisvõrgust saabunud kirjaga. Tundmatu saatja korral palume linke ja faile mitte avada. Please find enclosed circular C. N 4254 regarding the Modalities for the informal meeting of the Coordination Committee, which will take place on January 27, 2026, at WIPO Headquarters, in Geneva, and will open at 11:00 a.m. (CET). ------------ Veuillez trouver ci-joint la circulaire C. N 4254 concernant les Modalités de la réunion informelle du Comité de coordination qui se tiendra le 27 janvier 2026, au siège de I’OMPI, à Genève, et qui débutera à 11h00 (heure d’Europe centrale). ------------ Tenemos el agrado de adjuntar la circular C. N 4254 relativas a las Modalidades de la reunión oficiosa del Comité de Coordinación, que tendrá lugar el 27 de enero de 2026, en la sede de la OMPI, en Ginebra, y que comenzará a las 11.00 (hora de Ginebra). ------------- THIS IS AN AUTOMATED MESSAGE, PLEASE DO NOT REPLY DIRECTLY TO THIS EMAIL Ceci est un message automatique, veuillez ne pas y répondre Este es un mensaje automático, por favor no responda a este aviso World Intellectual Property Organization Disclaimer: This electronic message may contain privileged, confidential and copyright protected information. If you have received this e-mail by mistake, please immediately notify the sender and delete this e-mail and all its attachments. Please ensure all e-mail attachments are scanned for viruses prior to opening or using. Classification: WIPO FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY