The working session was within the framework of a visit and working session with a number of relevant agencies in Vietnam on specific programs of WIPO's activities in order to strengthen cooperation and support Vietnam in the use of intellectual property, such as a tool to promote innovation for the goal of national development.

Attending the meeting, there were Mrs: Alexandra Bhattacharya, Program Officer, Office of Deputy General Director; Yaning Zhang, Project Specialist, Office of the Deputy General Manager. Regarding the NOIP, there are: Mr. Tran Le Hong, Deputy Director of NOIP and leaders of 19 units under the Department.

At the meeting, NOIP Deputy Director Tran Le Hong deeply thanked Mr. Deputy General Director and colleagues at WIPO for their close cooperation and active support for Vietnam in general and for the Department of Intellectual Property in particular. Mr. Tran Le Hong, said that the close cooperation relationship between Vietnam and WIPO has played an important role in the process of proactive integration into Vietnam's global IP and trade system.

At the meeting, Mr. Hasan Kleib, Deputy General Director of WIPO, expressed his strong impression on Vietnam's economic growth in the recent years, especially in the context of the pandemic still achieving a positive growth rate. Mr. Hasan Kleib affirmed that the NOIP is the most prominent, dynamic and most advanced IP agency in the ASEAN system.

In particular, in the recent years, the number of patent applications in Vietnam has tripled as well as in other fields by 50%. Mr. Hasan Kleib also said that today, IP development is not only from a legal or technical perspective, but how to apply it as a tool to promote economic growth and development for people.

At the same time, the Memorandum of Understanding between WIPO and NOIP also addresses the development of human resources, especially in terms of skills needed to access and make the best use of scientific and technological databases as well as WIPO's support to expand and strengthen the national network for technology and innovation support in Vietnam, including the translation of WIPO documents into Vietnamese; provide documents and reference information sources on IP; accession and implementation of international treaties on intellectual property according to the needs of Vietnam./.