The Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Dr. Kamil Idris, met with the Attorney General and Minister for Justice of Ghana, Mr. Nana Akufo-Addo, on November 14, 2001, for talks on the critical importance of intellectual property in promoting wealth creation, social development and cultural enrichment as well as on-going and future areas of cooperation between WIPO and Ghana.

The Director General underlined that efficient use of the intellectual property system is a key element in promoting sustained economic development and social well-being. He reaffirmed WIPO’s commitment to further supporting Ghanaian authorities in their efforts to strengthen and modernize the intellectual property system in that country. In this regard, the Director General underlined, in particular the training activities of the WIPO Worldwide Academy, and the services available under the WIPONET project. The Director General also underlined the Organization's commitment to promoting better understanding and use of the intellectual property system in Ghana.

In the course of his two-day visit, Mr. Akufo-Addo was also briefed on a wide-range of WIPO activities including electronic commerce, alternative intellectual property dispute resolution mechanisms, collective copyright management, traditional knowledge, genetic resources and folklore, public outreach, the training programs offered by the WIPO Worldwide Academy and services available under WIPONET. Once completed, WIPONET will create a global information network infrastructure linking the operations of the world's intellectual property offices. Under the project, Ghana will benefit from a range of central services including e-mail, web-hosting, discussion groups on intellectual property-related topics, virus scanning, user administration and help desk services.

The Minister acknowledged the importance of intellectual property as a tool for wealth creation and called on WIPO to provide further assistance in modernizing the intellectual property system in Ghana and in raising public awareness about the role and value of intellectual property in that country.

During his visit to WIPO, the Minister was accompanied by H.E. Mr. Fritz Poku, Ghana’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva, Mrs. Yvonne Korkoi Nkrumah, Assistant Copyright Administrator, and Mrs. Victoria Mansa Tettegah, First Secretary at the Mission of Ghana to the United Nations in Geneva.

Ghana became a member of WIPO in 1976 and is party to the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property and the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works as well as the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).

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

Tel: (+41 22) 338 81 61 or (+41 22) 338 95 47; Fax: (+41 22) 338 88 10; E-mail: publicinf@wipo.int