Port-Vila, Vanuatu – 4 May 2022: On 4 May 2022, the National University of Vanuatu (NUV) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Vanuatu Intellectual Property Office (VanIPO). The purpose of this MoU is to develop academic and educational cooperation on the basis of equality and reciprocity to promote knowledge-based economy in fostering and promoting creativity and Innovation in Vanuatu.
Under this partnership, the VanIPO will support the NUV to promote innovation for economic growth as well as provide trainings and services on intellectual property laws and respect of intellectual property rights. The NUV will develop with the support of VanIPO educational programs on intellectual property rights for school students and teachers. Thus, the NUV will actively contribute to raise awareness on intellectual property.
The Vice Chancellor and President of the National University of Vanuatu, Mr. Jean-Pierre Nirua, said “The National University of Vanuatu (NUV) is proud to be associated with VanIPO through this strategic partnership arrangement. I thank the Registrar of the Vanuatu Intellectual Property Office for choosing the National University of Vanuatu to be a key partner in the good promotion and protection of local intellectual property rights through teaching and learning, research and training of students for employment. The students of Vanuatu need to understand the relevant laws of Vanuatu that are applicable to intellectual property rights so that they can help their communities to protect their rights. As the national university of the country, the NUV seeks to become a key player in Pacific Research and Development so we can also contribute to train local researchers to master key knowledge about the economic, scientific, cultural, intellectual properties that Vanuatu has and must protect for the benefit of its future generations. The country has been and continues to be a huge research laboratory for many foreign researchers aiming for a PhD or some international recognition. It is time we train our local intellects and researchers to take stock and control of our national heritage so future generations can also cherish the same benefits we have experienced. This partnership is a steppingstone to few more to come in the near future”.
Mr. Brittien Yosef, the Registrar of the VanIPO, said “The Vanuatu Intellectual Property Office, is delighted to support the development of the National University of Vanuatu. The VanIPO with its affiliation to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), and its global network will share its knowledge and experience for the benefits of the students and the teachers. We also hope that integrating intellectual property courses will encourage innovation, creativity, research and entrepreneurship”.
Mr. Brittien Yosef added “With the recent graduation of Vanuatu from a Least Developed Country to a Developing Country, we have to diversify the economy to other sectors to ensure that, there is other activities of which, if we could encourage and our citizen to participate on. One of this activity, is the knowledge economy. It is an economic activity of which the production of goods and services is based principally on knowledge intensive activities that contribute to the advancement in technical and scientific innovation. The key element of value is the greater dependence on human capital and intellectual property for the source of the innovative ideas, information and practices. It is indeed strategic to introduce IP into our very own University, as a centre for learning in which ideas are formulated, exchanged, critic, accessed, and maybe commercialized in the future”.
The development of the NUV is aligned with Vanuatu People’s Plan and the Vanuatu Education and Training Sector Strategic Plan. It is expected that new programs and courses will be developed for offer through the NUV School of Arts, Languages and Cultures.
