Intellectual Property Pact With UN Aims to Boost Economic Development

A new agreement signed between the United Nations World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and Ghana aims to boost the West African nation's economic development and bolster its standing with the international business community.

WIPO Director General Dr. Kamil Idris welcomed the development, saying it "marked a new chapter" in the agency's cooperation with Ghana. The Intellectual Property Development Plan "offered a comprehensive and coherent approach to establishing a robust intellectual property framework that will support the country's development objectives," he added.

The Plan is "timely as Ghana is at the dawn of its economic take-off," the country's Attorney General and Justice Minister, Joe Ghartey, said following the signing. He added that progress in administrative reform "was boosting his country's standing within the international business community."

The Development Plan seeks to establish a better system for users of intellectual property rights - such as universities, small- and medium-sized enterprises, chambers of commerce and industry, research and development institutions, the judiciary, and copyright organizations - and aims to make sure they have the technical capacity to use the system.

It also promotes the development of creative industries, electronic commerce and agriculture.