Heads of the ASEAN Intellectual Property Offices committed to stronger cooperation to support the integration of ASEAN Economic Community. Officiated by Vietnam's Deputy Minister of Science and Technology, Tran Van Tung, the 44th ASEAN Working Group on Intellectual Property Cooperation (AWGIPC) met in Ho Chih Minh City, Vietnam.

Chaired by Tan Yih San, Chief Executive of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore, the AWGIPC is an ASEAN regional platform to foster a business-friendly IP environment in Southeast Asia that covers 630 million people.

The meeting also saw the enlarged engagement with ASEAN Intellectual Property Association which comprised IP practitioners, to better understand the issues faced by the IP community.

The ASEAN IP Offices also attended the 6th ASEAN-Australia - New Zealand Free Trade Agreement Intellectual Property Committee Meeting which addressed initiatives to promote intellectual property and the member states' accession to the Madrid Protocol.

All IP Heads discussed and reviewed the progress of the customized ASEAN Patent Examination Co-operation (ASPEC) programme which reduces the cost and time to obtain a patent in ASEAN.

A Memorandum of Understanding was also signed by Tan Yih San, and Ta Quang Minh, Director General of the National Office of Intellectual Property of Vietnam (NOIP), signaling enhanced cooperation between the two IP Offices.

The MoU will see stronger collaborations in promoting IP utilization and more assistance to businesses seeking IP protection in the Singapore and Vietnam markets.

Areas of partnership will include quality administration and capacity building, technology transfer and commercialization, IP valuation, as well as promotion of IP to SMEs and the public.

The Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) is a statutory board under the Ministry of Law.

IPOS advises and administers the Intellectual Property (IP) regime, promotes its usage and builds expertise to facilitate the development of Singapore's IP eco-system.

IPOS' vision is for Singapore to be an IP Hub of Asia.