Minister Huynh Thanh Dat had a meeting with WIPO Director General Daren Tang on July 13 and addressed the 63rd series of meetings of the Assemblies of the WIPO Member States on July 14.

At these events, Dat underlined that as a WIPO member, Vietnam is ready to join others in implementing the organisation’s common initiatives to support post-pandemic recovery, create favourable conditions for relevant parties in the intellectual property (IP) and innovation ecosystem, especially small and medium firms and startups, and encourage the engagement of women and the young.

Vietnam will remain an active, proactive and responsible member of WIPO for the development of an inclusive, balanced, dynamic and future-oriented global IP ecosystem, thereby helping enrich humankind’s knowledge and culture and promote sustainable economic growth and development, he said.

Appreciating WIPO’s assistance for Vietnam to effectively implement the cooperation projects and programmes on building the IP system’s capacity, he proposed the organisation continue helping the country carry out the national IP strategy and the revised IP Law; form and promote an IP culture in society; increase collaboration in IP training; and carry out the projects assisting businesses with innovation, technology transfer, IP development and protection so as to improve their resilience, adaptability, competitiveness and growth.

On this occasion, the minister witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in implementing the national IP strategy between his ministry’s IP Office and WIPO. A cooperation deal between the IP offices of Vietnam and the UK was also extended.

In France, Minister Dat had talks with the French Minister of Higher Education and Research and visited some agencies and organisations in the country’s national innovation system, including the National Centre for Space Studies, the Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission in Grenoble, the Inovalée science park, and Airbus Defence and Space.

The two sides agreed to seek an appropriate cooperation mechanism in the new context through upgrading the agreement on scientific and technological cooperation inked by the two Governments in 2007; set up more connection channels to boost academic exchanges through Vietnam’s return to the Hubert Curien programme of France; and open a new corridor for promoting technology cooperation and transfer between Vietnamese and French innovation firms.

They agreed on some concrete activities to connect Inovalée of France with high-tech parks of Vietnam so as to facilitate investment in high technology. They also looked into the potential of and some measures for enhancing more substantive scientific and technological ties in some new areas like space, green technology and new energy, along with traditional fields such as biotechnology, health care and agriculture.

While in France, Dat also attended the UNESCO-held opening ceremony of the International Year of Basic Sciences for Sustainable Development 2022, and a high-level seminar on the role of science in policy making.