At the last National Intellectual Property Forum held at the Port-au-Prince Marriott Hotel, Olgatte Abdou, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Advisor for the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), stated that "the integration of LDCs into the global knowledge economy is one of the priorities of WIPO". She welcomed the initiative of this Forum taken by the Haitian Government "which seeks to develop appropriate strategies for integrating intellectual property into its public development policies."

Daniel Denis, the Director General of the Ministry of Commerce assured the participants that his Ministry will make every effort to translate into concrete measures the decisions that will emerge from these national conference. According to him, "these measures will improve the legal framework for the development of intellectual and industrial property in Haiti; to sensitize all the bodies concerned and to encourage innovation; to integrate this innovative sector into the curriculum of vocational schools and universities; to sensitize the MSMEs [Micros, Small and Medium Enterprises] to protect their creations; to highlight geographical indications and appellations of origin throughout the national territory; to sensitize the arts promoters, the literary creators on the importance of registering their works and finally to sensitize the parliamentarians on the importance of ratifying the international treaties to which Haiti adheres and to promulgate national laws pertaining to the matter."

Many topics were discussed and discussed during this two-day forum: WIPO technical cooperation for LDCs; the role of intellectual property in reducing poverty, promoting development and wealth creation; the legal and institutional framework of property in Haiti; the importance of partnership between universities, research and development institutes and the public / private sectors for the management and promotion and commercialization of intellectual property assets; traditional knowledge, genetic resources and traditional cultural expressions; the source of promotion and valuation of local products; intellectual property and public issues; the use of intellectual property for the promotion of innovation and the competitiveness of enterprises in the digital economy; facilitating access to scientific and technical information; the integration of intellectual property in development policies and the role and contribution of collective management of copyright and neighboring rights in the promotion of creative industries in Haiti and the responsibilities of rights holders.

HL/ S/ HaitiLibre