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Director General Pledges WIPO Support to Colombia

Geneva, November 11, 2005
Press Updates UPD/2005/262

The Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Dr. Kamil Idris, has pledged the Organization's continued support to Colombia in modernizing its intellectual property (IP) infrastructure. This came during a meeting in Bogota, with the President of Colombia, Mr. Alvaro Uribe Velez and senior officials. During his visit on November 7 and 8, 2005, Dr. Idris also met with representatives of the private sector and academia.

In talks with the President, Dr. Idris highlighted the importance of IP as a tool for development and exchanged views on the best way to maximize the potential of IP as a tool for wealth creation. The Direction General congratulated the President on his visionary approach to IP and his support of national efforts to promote an IP culture in Colombia. In relation to this, Dr. Idris offered WIPO's support in the formulation of a national IP strategic plan. The Director General emphasized that IP is not an end in itself, but a key element in supporting national development efforts.

The Director General also met with other top Colombian officials, including H.E. Mrs. Carolina Barco, Minister for External Relations; H.E. Mr. Jorge Humberto Botero, Minister for Foreign Trade, Industry and Tourism; H.E. Mr. Sabas Pretelt de la Vega, Minister for Internal Affairs and Justice; Mr. Jairo Rubio Escobar, Superintendent of Industry and Commerce (SIC); Mr. Fernando Zapata López, Director General, National Copyright Directorate (DNDA) and Mrs. María del Rosario Guerra de Mesa, Director General, COLCIENCIAS (National Office for Innovation and Science Policy).

In his talks with these officials, Dr. Idris praised Colombia's efforts to modernize its IP and innovation systems and its achievements in enhancing the protection of IP throughout the country. Colombian officials commended WIPO's vision of IP and its increasing importance in the international economy. They lauded Dr. Idris's leadership of WIPO, in particular, in spearheading the Organization's response to new international challenges to promote development.

WIPO has a long-standing and fruitful relationship with the Copyright Office and the Industrial Property Office of Colombia and will continue to provide expert advice and training, as well as assistance in promoting awareness of the importance of IP. WIPO is also cooperating with COLCIENCIAS and SIC and a number of other partners, including the Geneva International Academic Network (RUIG-GIAN), to create a network of research institutions serviced by an "IP hub" to develop local expertise in protecting and commercializing research results through the use of patents and other types of IP.

This pilot initiative is designed to test a model that can be used to address the critical infrastructural and resource challenges facing many developing country health research institutions. Under the project, research and development (R&D) networks made up of research institutions agree to common policies and share common services. Such networks are designed to leverage costs and resources by using economies of scale and may also accelerate research. The "IP hub" serves a vital function in supporting and strengthening research in developing countries by providing IP common services.

More than 30 research institutions from Colombia and six other Central African nations (Cameroon, Chad, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Republic of Congo) are participating in the project. Many of these research institutions are working in the struggle against malaria and other tropical diseases. The project is interdisciplinary drawing on expertise in the field of health, management, marketing, economics, law and policy to find creative solutions and build a realistic model through research, test and evaluation. The Colombian Government welcomed this initiative and expressed its appreciation for WIPO's support of this project.

In the course of his visit, Dr. Idris also presented a WIPO Gold Medal Award to a Colombian inventor, Dr. Manuel Elkin Patarroyo, in recognition of his outstanding work in the field of medical science. Dr. Patarroyo, a biochemist, is responsible for developing the world's first safe and effective malaria vaccine. Dr. Patarroyo declined all personal financial gain from the patent and assigned it to the World Health Organization. In attributing the award, Dr. Idris said "The WIPO Gold Medal Award … aims at stimulating invention and innovation around the world. The objective is to improve the image of inventors through recognition of their merits as creators of substantive input to national wealth and development especially in developing countries." Dr. Idris also presented a WIPO Certificate to a Colombian entrepreneur, Mr. Roberto Bernal, for his contribution to promoting a culture of innovation among the Colombian business community.

For further information, journalists may contact the Media Relations and Public Affairs Section at WIPO:

  • Tel: (+41 22) 338 81 61 or (+41 22) 338 95 47;
  • E-mail: publicinf@wipo.int
  • Fax: (+41 22) 338 82 80.
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