GENEVA - The Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Dr. Kamil Idris, met with the President of the Kyrgyz Republic, Kurmanbek Bakiev, during an official visit to that country June 16 -17, 2008 to mark the 15th anniversary of the opening of the Kyrgyz State Patent Service.

According to a press release by WIPO, Dr. Idris also met with the Prime Minister, Igor Chudinov and a number of senior representatives from government and academia.

In his meeting with Bakiev, Idris pledged WIPO’s continuing support in strengthening the Intellectual Property (IP) system in the Kyrgyz Republic.

Idris applauded the country’s commitment to establishing an effective national IP system and underlined the importance of IP as an effective means of promoting economic development, particularly for countries that were moving towards a market-oriented economy.

He said that in today’s knowledge-driven global economy, a national commitment to effective and strategic use of IP is a pre-requisite to economic well-being.

Idris pointed to the huge human potential of the Kyrgyz people and their rich cultural heritage and folklore which were invaluable resources in the drive to boost the economic well-being of the country.

Bakiev observed that the IP system was a source of economic growth. He agreed that it was an important means for further developing the country’s human resource potential and leveraging the value of its cultural heritage for economic growth and development.

The President stated that his country was committed to taking the measures necessary to fully benefit from the IP system.

Discussions between Chudinov and Idris touched on ways to further develop the long-standing and fruitful cooperation between WIPO and the Kyrgyz Republic.

In his meetings with the leadership of the Kyrgyz Republic, the Director General pledged support for a project aimed at undertaking a comprehensive study on the economic contribution of the Kyrgyz Republic’s creative industries, and for developing a digital library.

He also expressed WIPO’s readiness to continue assisting the country in a number of priority areas including modernization of IP legislation, development of IP related human resources, and strengthening of IP enforcement.

In the course of his two-day visit, the WIPO delegation participated in a number of events to mark the 15th anniversary of the establishment of Kyrgyzstan’s State Patent Service.

Kyrgyzstan became a member of WIPO in 1994 and is party to 20 WIPO-administered treaties.

Source: ag-IP news