World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) chief has stressed commercial value in IP, saying businesses should not consider the implementation of IP a task to abide by but assistance to develop their production.

WIPO General Director Dr. Francis Gurry said at a meeting with organisations and individuals winning WIPO prizes in Hanoi on Jan. 20 that IP made a contribution to economic development. Products and firms will have their footholds on the market, creating Vietnam’s images abroad.

In the next 10 years, Vietnam will see a boom in IP, so increasing demand on patents from local businesses and foreign investors in Vietnam will require better patent and IP protection, he said.

According to the WIPO chief, with good legal infrastructure on IP, Vietnam needs to continue enforcing and improving the capacity of IP implementation because of regular changes and developments in the field.

WIPO has carried out cooperation programmes on capacity enhancement in order to create favourable conditions for developing countries, including Vietnam , he said.

The organisation has also developed other projects for Vietnam such as remote training programme in the Vietnamese language and a programme to support small- and medium-sized enterprises in the field.

On this occasion, the Vietnam Fund for Supporting Technology Creations presented the badge “For the cause of Vietnam’s technology creation” to Dr. Gurry in recognition of his and his organisation’s contribution to Vietnam./.