The Director General of the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) Mr. G H Sibanda and the Director General of the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property of the United Mexican States (IMPI-Mexico), Mr. Jose Rodrigo Roque Diaz signed a Cooperation Agreement on the 1^st of December 2011.  The signing ceremony took place during the Thirteenth Session of the Council of Ministers of ARIPO which was held in Accra, Ghana.  This Cooperation Agreement will among other things foresee the exchange of information and experiences in the field of intellectual property by the two Offices.  Included in this Cooperation Agreement is the training of human resources, public awareness, invitations in each other’s major events and technical assistance in particular in the areas of Automation, Documentation, Search and Examination.

This Cooperation Agreement buttresses the already existing bilateral cooperation activities between the two Offices in the area of Geographical Indications and support to the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization in its search and examination activities in the area of pharmaceuticals, training for its Examiners in search, documentation and examination.  IMPI-Mexico has also been active in supporting ARIPO in the establishment of intellectual property promotion units (IPPU) in selected R&D Institutions including Universities in ARIPO Member States.