The United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has announced the formation of a High Level Panel to assess the scope and functions of its proposed new 'Technology Bank', which includes Dr Posh Raj Pandey, Executive Chairman of South Asia Watch on Trade, Economics and Environment (SAWTEE).

The Bank will be dedicated to helping the least developed countries (LDCs) emerge out of poverty, according to Secretary General’s spokesperson. The panel is chaired by Rwanda’s RomainMurenzi, currently Executive Director of the World Academy of Sciences in Trieste, Italy, and Minister for Education, Science, Technology and Research of the Republic of Rwanda

The other members of the panel are Mohamed Hassan, Co-chair of IAP, a global network of science academies, and Chairman of the Council, United Nations University (UNU); Bruce Lehman, Chairman, International Intellectual Property Institute (IIPI), Washington and former US Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks and Assistant Secretary of Commerce; TebelloNyokong, Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and nanotechnology at the Rhodes University, South Africa; DorteOlesen, Professor at the Technical University of Denmark, MichèleDuvivier Pierre-Louis, former Prime Minister of Haiti; Firdausi Qadri, Director, Centre for Vaccine Sciences, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh; Fang Xin,Member of the Presidium of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and member of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China, HakanKaratas Director, International Cooperation, at the Scientific and Technology Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK)and the UN Under Secretary-General and High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States, Gyan Chandra Acharya.

According to a press release issued by SAWTEE, the Secretary-General has asked the High-Level Panel to give practical recommendations on the matter, which can provide a strong impetus to accelerating structural transformation and sustainable development of the LDCs