I am pleased to address the formal Consultative Meeting for the Validation of the Intellectual Property(IP) and Innovation Assessment report in the context of the setting up an ‘IP Asset Identification, Protection, and Management system’ as part of a strategic objective of the Intellectual Property development plan for the Republic of Mauritius, in presence of Professor M. Shariff, Director, Innovation and Commercialisation Centre, University Putra, Malaysia, Mrs Y Hamano, Senior Program Officer, Patents and Innovation Division, WIPO, Mrs N. Nyerere-Drago, Senior Program Officer, Regional Bureau for Africa, WIPO and other eminent personalities. I welcome the Consultative Meeting and I compliment the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) for assisting Mauritius in such initiatives.