In a three-day visit to Tunisia that concluded on April 24, 2025, WIPO Director General Daren Tang met top Government officials, diplomats and WIPO project beneficiaries to discuss how intellectual property (IP) is a crosscutting area at the core of a country’s development journey and a powerful catalyst for jobs, investments and enterprise growth.
Mr. Tang met with Minister of Tourism Soufiane Tekaya, Minister for Cultural Affairs Amina Srarfi, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Migration and Tunisians Abroad Mohamed Ali Nafti, Minister of Industry, Mining and Energy Fatma Thabet Chiboub and Minister of Youth and Sports Sadok Mourali.
The Director General and Minister of Tourism Soufiane Tekaya launched a year-long project for 40 women artisans in the handicraft sector to boost the brand identity of Mouchtia traditional textiles, with strong emphasis on business strategy and protection of its rich cultural heritage. Discussions also focused on developing a national IP strategy that cuts across all economic sectors. The Director General referred to a new WIPO Academy course on IP and tourism that could be tailored to the country's needs by Tunisia’s National IP Academy.
In talks with Minister for Cultural Affairs Amina Srarfi, the Director General underlined the importance of copyright as a tool to create value for creators. Mr. Tang presented WIPO CLIP, an online platform that aims to raise creators’ awareness of IP rights and related management practices, and ensure they receive recognition and fair reward for their work. He encouraged Tunisian musicians to explore CLIP, which is also available in Arabic. Discussions also touched on leveraging the country's extensive festival and museum networks with WIPO’s Toolkit on Preservation for Cultural Heritage Institutions, noting that it could be complemented by legislative assistance to combat unlawful use of copyrighted materials on the internet and streaming platforms. They also discussed the possibility of working together to support local film makers and producers to improve the competitiveness of Tunisia’s movie industry using IP.
 WIPO Director General Meets Tunisia’s Minister of Tourism (photo: Tunisian National Handicrafts Office (ONAT)). |
 WIPO Director General Meets Tunisia's Minister for Cultural Affairs (photo: WIPO/Julieta Nhane). |
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In his meeting with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Migration and Tunisians Abroad Mohamed Ali Nafti, Mr. Tang pledged WIPO’s continued support to strengthening Tunisia's IP ecosystem. Highlighting projects such as IP for Women Artisans in the Handicraft Sector; Registration of Collective Marks for Local Enterprises; the IP and Youth project under TANIT and the ongoing cooperation for the development of a National Intellectual Property Strategy, Mr. Tang reaffirmed WIPO’s readiness to provide targeted support towards an efficient and effective implementation of the strategy.
Discussions with Minister of Industry, Mining and Energy Fatma Thabet Chiboub, revolved around the role of IP as a cross-cutting enabler and on the importance of having a National IP Strategy as a tool to leverage IP and innovation ecosystems and as a catalyst for growth and value creation for the benefit of everyone, everywhere. They agreed on joint activities to support the National IP Academy at the Standardization and Industrial Property National Institute (INNORPI) by diversifying training programs and materials. The need for promoting research results for commercialization purposes and building an IP culture among SMEs and all economic stakeholders was also emphasized.
The challenges and opportunities faced by Tunisian youth to take their ideas to the market was at the heart of talks with Minister, of Youth and Sports Sadok Mourali. They discussed the possibility of launching a project on IP and Sports. The Director General recalled the recent launch of a new course on IP and Sports and the Master’s Program with the University of Carthage on Innovation Management and Technology Transfer. The Director General subsequently met with local youth at Youth House of Hammam- Lif to discuss IP in topics such as robotics, music, filming and the visual arts.
 WIPO Director General Meets Tunisia's Minister of Industry, Mining and Energy (Photo: WIPO/M'Hamed Sidi El Khir). |
 WIPO Director General Meets Minister of Youth and Sports of Tunisia (photo: Ministry of Youth and Sports, Tunisia). |
The Director General spoke at a conference at the International Diplomatic Academy of Tunis (IDAT), which was also attended by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Migration and Tunisians Abroad. The program is helping 49 diplomats build IP expertise necessary for participation in impactful trade negotiations.