By Rudo Saungweme
...as IP Gurus converge for an indaba in Harare
The Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Ziyambi Ziyambi has officially opened a three day WIPO/ARIPO/OAPI (WAO) Conference on Intellectual Property (IP) Innovation and Value Addition for Business Competitiveness and Sustainable Development in Africa being held at Meikles Hotel in Harare.
Speaking at the official opening, Minister Ziyambi applauded the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) for taking a step towards the implementation of the 45 recommendations of the organisation’s development agenda which is aimed at balancing approach of IP which is more supportive of innovativeness and competition.
Minister Ziyambi said that the conference took place at a time African countries are realising the importance of IP tool.
"This conference takes place during a period when most countries have become aware of the importance of IP as a powerful tool for economic growth. Many countries are formulating and reviewing their IP policies in an endeavour to nurture and anchor the IP system in order to foster innovation, competition and value addition.
"Just like many other countries, Zimbabwe has embraced the importance of Intellectual Property as a tool for economic growth," said the Minister.
He said that Zimbabwe launched the Zimbabwe National Intellectual Property Policy and Strategy (ZNIPPS) which provides direction and clarity on the development of the intellectual property system through consolidation of efforts across all sectors of the economy and building linkages between the industry, Research and Development institutions, Universities, Trade and SMEs.
Minister said that plans are underway to upgrade the Zimbabwe Intellectual Property Office.
"Further to that, plans are underway to restructure and upgrade the Zimbabwe Intellectual Property Office in line with the National IP Policy and to prepare it to fully participate in the fourth industrial revolution," he said.
Minister Ziyambi encouraged institutions of Higher Learning and Research and Development institutions to formulate institutional IP policies.
This development will see improvement in the technical and scientific knowledge gap and will stimulate innovation and economic growth by facilitating access to technological information and strengthening Zimbabwe's capacity to exploit this information effectively.
The conference draw delegates from the rest of Africa, France, Switzerland and many others.
