Since the mid-eighties, emphasis has been placed on capacity-building, and better understanding of technology as a learning process involving diffusion and mastery of technology. This period was characterised by deregulation of the economy and liberalisation, including privatisation, of the public sector. National policies evolved, with greater emphasis, generally, on attracting foreign direct investment and technology, streamlining of approval procedures and fewer provisions on technology transfer or other operating requirements. Technology transfer was also increasingly considered as a firm-to-firm transaction undertaken through the market on a commercial basis. The Uruguay Round addressed some of the new concerns, particularly the concerns of industrialised countries for the protection of technology assets and their initiative for TRIPS.
