WIPO Signs Cooperation Program with the Republic of Belarus
Geneva, December 11, 2000
Press Releases PR/2000/250
A program of cooperation that aims to strengthen intellectual property protection in the Republic of Belarus was signed on Monday by Dr. Kamil Idris, Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and Mr. Mikhail Demchuk, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus.
Mr. Demchuk was accompanied by Mr. Vladimir Malevich, Deputy Permanent Representative, Ms. Irina Egorova, First Secretary and Mr. Sergei Anoshko, First Secretary, Permanent Mission of the Republic of Belarus to the United Nations Office in Geneva.
The program of cooperation between WIPO and Belarus will include a range activities and training programs to modernize intellectual property legislation in Belarus, upgrade enforcement mechanisms, and strengthen the role of intellectual property in the relevant fields of scientific, technological and economic activities undertaken in Belarus.
Dr. Idris said that the launch of the program of cooperation represented a significant step in promoting intellectual property in Belarus. He congratulated the government of Belarus for its vision and foresight in strengthening the national intellectual property system. The Director General said that in today's knowledge-based economic environment the intellectual property system is a crucial policy tool that enables a country to tap into its creative potential and to foster its economic and technological development.
Mr. Demchuk said that the program would give added impetus to his government's efforts to strengthening the intellectual property system at the national level. He said that intellectual property was of pivotal importance to Belarus in its drive to convert its innovative potential into tangible economic assets and thereby to promote economic development.
The Deputy Prime Minister also extended an invitation to Dr. Idris, on behalf of the President and the Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus, to visit Minsk in 2001.
For further information, please contact the Media Relations and Public Affairs Section at WIPO:
- Tel: (+41 22) 338 81 61 or (+41 22) 338 95 47;
- Fax: (+41 22) 338 88 10;
- E-mail: publicinf@wipo.int