A welcome by Prof. Abdul Bari Azed
Director General of Intellectual Property Rights
Ministry of Justice and Human Rights
Republic of Indonesia

It is a great honour and privilege for me to welcome the launching of the website on EC-ASEAN Intellectual Property Rights Cooperation Programme (ECAP II).

As we all have witnessed, for almost two decades intellectual property rights have become more and more important and received greater attention in the international forum. The inclusion of the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (known as the TRIPS Agreement) as one of the annexes of the Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization (?WTO?) in 1994 has strengthened the fact that intellectual property rights are now one of the key elements of the world economy.

As a member country of the WTO, Indonesia is fully aware that its compliance to the minimum standards on the protection of intellectual property rights as prescribed in the TRIPS Agreement needs to be fulfilled. Some important measures have been taken. In addition to revising the existing intellectual property laws and enacting laws on the new field of IPR, strengthening the administration and capacity of the IP office, and improving the awareness and understanding of the public on the importance of the IP system, the fostering of closer and mutual cooperation with foreign IP organizations has also been considered very important and needs to be improved.

It was with great enthusiasm and interests when Indonesia signed the Financing Agreement on the EU-ASEAN Intellectual Property Rights Cooperation Programme in November 2001, which marked the full participation of Indonesia in the programme. Through the various activities/programmes under the ECAP II we are certain that we can strengthen our national intellectual property system, share our knowledge and experiences with our counterparts in ASEAN and EC and play more active roles in the international IP forum.

In closing, on behalf of the Government of Indonesia, allow me to extend our sincere thanks and deep appreciation to all our counterparts/colleagues in this ECAP project for the excellent cooperation. I hope that we can work together and put our best efforts in making this project successful.

Jakarta, May 2003.

Dr. Abdul Bari Azed Director General Department of Justice and Human Rights, R.I Directorate General of Intellectual Property Rights Indonesia Fax: