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In her letter of August 7, 2019, addressed to Mr. Francis Gurry, Director General, Ms. V. Mabiza, Secretary for Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, requested WIPO to finance a study visit of a delegation from the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, to WIPO Headquarters to discuss best ways to enhance use of intellectual property (IP) in Zimbabwe, on September 12 and 13, 2019. The Delegation will be led by His Excellency, Mr. Ziyambi Ziyambi, Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs and will include Ms. V. Mabiza and one other official from the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs.
Following its accession to the Madrid Protocol in 2014, Zimbabwe is now planning to join the 1999 Act of the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs and has requested legislative advice for its accession to the 1999 Act, in line with the Zimbabwe National Intellectual Property Policy and Strategy (ZNIPPS). Furthermore, the Delegation has expressed a wish to discuss technical matters on promoting the efficient use of the Madrid System in Zimbabwe. Finally, the Delegation would like to deliberate IP awareness programs for SMEs and Senior policy makers, including parlamentarians, as well as human resources development and capacity building with the WIPO Academy and the Regional Bureau for Africa, and to find best ways to further strenghten the MIP program jointly offered by WIPO, ARIPO and Africa University with financial support from the Government of Japan.
The Delegation also plans to deposit instruments of accession to the Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances and the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Otherwise Print Disabled with the Director General. A meeting for this purpose has been confirmed with the Office of the Director General for Thursday, September 12, at 3.00 p.m. In the absence of any deposits in t |