Visit to Senegal by the Director General of WIPO

At the invitation of the Government of the Republic of Senegal, Mr. Kamil Idris, Director General of WIPO, paid an official visit to Senegal from April 26 to 28, 1998. The visit formed part of the strengthening of cooperative relations between Senegal and the Organization.

In the course of his stay, Mr. Idris had an audience with the Head of State and work sessions with the Minister of Energy, Mines and Industry, the Minister of Culture and the Minister of State and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Senegalese Abroad. He also visited Gorée Island, certain sites of the Biennial Festival of Contemporary African Art and national entities in the field of research and technological development, and met the creators at the "Douta Seck" house of culture.

Mr. Idris was also elevated to the rank of Commander in the National Order of the Lion of Senegal.

At the end of the talks that he had with the Senegalese authorities, at which the two sides agreed on the following:

In the industrial property field:

• Continued implementation of the WIPO-financed national project for Senegal.
• WIPO financing of a second national project that will place emphasis on the following aspects:
• • training of trainers;
  • awareness-building in the field of industrial property for the benefit of economic operators in Senegal;
  • creation of a national support fund for invention and technological innovation in order to achieve better exploitation of inventions;
  • supply of additional computer equipment to the Industrial Property and Technology Department of the Ministry of Energy, Mining and Industry.
• Creation in Senegal of a Regional Intellectual Property Training Center.
• Holding of a national workshop together with the Mission for the Equipment of the Dakar Technopolis, on the subject of the financing of innovation and technology transfer.
• Dispatch of a WIPO expert mission to the Institute of Food Technology, to identify the Institute's needs.

In the copyright field:

• WIPO financing of a national project with emphasis on the following aspects:
• • training of trainers;
  • strengthening of the protection apparatus;
  • promotion of awareness of the fight against infringement;
  • support for the introduction of software in connection with the implementation of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement).

To that end a joint WIPO/BSDA commission has been set up to work out the terms of reference of the project. The first meeting of the Commission will be held in Geneva in the third week of May 1998.

There was general agreement on the holding in Senegal, possibly on Gorée Island, of an African Conference on Intellectual Property and Human Rights.

At the end of his stay Mr. Kamil Idris thanked the Senegalese authorities for the warmth of their welcome and on the attentions and kindnesses that he and the accompanying delegation had been given.