WIPO Director General Meets President of Bulgaria

Geneva, July 6, 2000
Press Updates UPD/2000/103

During talks with senior Bulgarian officials on July 4 and 5, 2000 in Sofia, the Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Dr. Kamil Idris, underlined the importance of involving policy-makers at all levels in efforts to promote the creation, use and protection of intellectual property rights. This, along with the Director General's commitment to assist Bulgaria in strengthening its intellectual property system to make it a tool for wealth creation, was at the center of discussions with Bulgaria's President, Mr. Peter Stoyanov, and other top-level officials.

Dr. Idris, underlined that efforts to raise awareness of the value of intellectual property rights and to reinforce intellectual property infrastructure at the national level was a process that required the long-term commitment of policy-makers at all levels. He commended the Bulgarian Government for having successfully met the challenges of moving towards a market economy and said that he was encouraged to see that intellectual property protection had been placed at the heart of the country's socio-economic development strategy. Dr. Idris also commended the President for his leadership and Government of Bulgaria for its commitment to the intellectual property system at the national, international and regional levels.

Dr. Idris and Mr. Stoyanov discussed WIPO's cooperation with Bulgaria, which is tailored to the specific needs of the country. Institution-building and human resource development were identified as areas of particular importance. In addition, the President and the Director General agreed that a robust intellectual property system is a key element in fostering innovation and creative endeavor as key elements of a knowledge-based economy. This can stimulate new resources and employment.

Dr. Idris thanked President Stoyanov for his participation in the WIPO Policy Advisory Committee (PAC), an advisory body composed of eminent policy-makers. The PAC, which held its second session in June 2000, adopted a World Intellectual Property Declaration that aims to boost international awareness of the value of intellectual property as a tool to promote wealth creation and socio-economic and cultural development. President Stoyanov pledged his commitment to the work of the PAC, which is chaired by Prince El-Hassan bin Talal of Jordan, saying the members would raise the international profile of the intellectual property system.

The Director General also held talks with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mrs. Nadezhda Mihailova, the Deputy Minister of Economy, Mrs. Lyubov Panayotova and other senior government officials on ways of strengthening the intellectual property system in Bulgaria.

Dr. Idris received the award of Doctor Honoris Causa from the University of National and World Economy, in Sofia. This is the only university in Bulgaria and the Balkans region that has an intellectual property department and offers courses in intellectual property as part of its curricula at the graduate and post graduate levels.

Bulgaria became a member of WIPO on May 19, 1970. It is party to eight other major international intellectual property treaties administered by WIPO. These include the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (since 1921), Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (since 1921), the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks, the Patent Cooperation Treaty and the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Deposit of Industrial Designs.

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