S'porean Daren Tang voted to head UN intellectual property agency WIPO not because of US or China

Tang is the first Singaporean to assume a top role at a UN agency.

Kayla Wong | March 05, 2020, 01:44 PM

A Singaporean is set to head a United Nations (UN) agency for the first time.

Set to begin six-year term on Oct. 1

Daren Tang, Chief Executive of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) -- a position he held since 2015 -- was nominated to the top role at the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).

The 48-year-old Singaporean received a higher number of votes than other candidates in two rounds of voting, garnering 55 votes in the final round against China's candidate, Wang Binying, who got 28 votes.

While his nomination will have to be confirmed by the 193-member WIPO General Assembly when it convenes on May 7 to 8, the process has long been considered a formality.

Should he be confirmed, he will assume the role of the fifth director-general of WIPO, and will begin his six-year term from Oct. 1.

The WIPO is currently headed by Australian Francis Gurry, who has held the position over two six-year terms since 2008.

His current term will end on Sep. 30.

PM Lee congratulated Tang

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong congratulated Tang on the nomination in a Facebook post on Wednesday night, March 4.

Saying that this is the first time a Singaporean has been nominated for the leadership position of a UN agency, he expressed his gratitude for the support WIPO has given Tang.

He further commended the team effort by officers in IPOS, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Law, the Ministry of Trade and Industry, all Overseas Missions, Non-Resident Ambassadors and Special Envoys for "flying the Singapore flag high".

Tang "humbled and honoured" by nomination

Speaking from Geneva, Tang said he was "humbled and honoured" by the nomination.

In a statement issued by the Ministry of Law and IPOS, he further emphasised that the nomination process was a team effort across many government agencies, which have "worked hard over many months" to promote his candidature.

He said: “There were many well-qualified candidates who contested through a fair, open and transparent process, and this shows how important WIPO is to the global community."

"I look forward to the confirmation of the nomination by the WIPO General Assembly in May 2020, and to jointly write the next chapter of WIPO’s future.”

Vivian: Tang is an "experienced and inclusive" leader

In a letter proposing Tang as a candidate for the position, Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan had described Tang as "an experienced and inclusive leader who is able to balance the interests of all stakeholders to forge consensus".

Vivian further commended Tang for transforming IPOS from a regulator to "an innovation agency", and noted his extensive experience with both bilateral and multilateral trade negotiations.

United States Secretary of State Michael Pompeo also congratulated Tang on his nomination via a statement.

U.S. sends congratulatory note

Pompeo said the U.S. looked forward to working with him to safeguard intellectual property.

Pompeo said: "Mr Tang is an effective advocate for protecting intellectual property, a vocal proponent of transparency and institutional integrity, and a leader who can unify WIPO member states by forging consensus on difficult issues."

Singaporean diplomats' take on Tang

Ambassador-at-large Tommy Koh said in his Facebook post that it is a "happy day for Singapore and for all the small countries of the world".

"In a world dominated by the big countries it is difficult for an outstanding candidate from a small country to defeat the candidate from a big country."

Koh expressed confidence that Tang "will be a great leader of WIPO".

Bilahari Kausikan, former permanent secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, called Tang's nomination "a stunning victory!"

The former Ambassador-at-large, however, noted that "it was not, as some in the Trump administration portrayed it, and will no doubt continue to do so, a victory of a ‘US candidate’ over China".

Bilahari said that the simple fact was that Singapore declared its candidacy long before China did so.

The former diplomat also said Tang is "one of our brightest younger legal minds and recognised as such internationally, as is Singapore’s commitment to protecting intellectual property".

Tang's background

Tang joined IPOS, a statutory board under the Ministry of Law, as deputy chief executive in 2012.

Three years later he became chief executive.

He was also part of Singapore’s legal team in the dispute with Malaysia over the sovereignty of Pedra Branca.

This was during his stint as a Senior State Counsel with the Attorney-General's Chambers’ international affairs division from 2003 to 2012.

Between 2001 and 2003, during his time at the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Tang was also involved in the United States-Singapore free trade agreement as lead negotiator and legal counsel.

He recently led IP negotiations for Singapore in the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and the European Union-Singapore free trade agreement.

Tang currently chairs the standing committee on copyright and related rights at WIPO.

How voting played out

Tang was up against other candidates from China, Colombia, Ghana, Kazakhstan and Peru.

WIPO's 83-member-state coordination committee held two rounds of voting.

Kazakhstan’s candidate withdrew her candidacy ahead of the first round of voting.

The candidate from Peru had the least votes after the first round and was eliminated.

Two other candidates from Colombia and Ghana withdrew their candidatures before the second round of voting.

Tang prevailed in the second and final round of voting with 55 votes.

Bilahari noted that his former colleagues in Singapore's MFA ran a brilliant lobbying campaign on Tang's behalf, supported by other agencies.

Top image via Intellectual Property Office of Singapore