Report on the 37th General Assembly of the IFIA
Official Report on the 37th General Assembly of the International Federation of Inventors Associations (IFIA)
The 37th General Assembly of the International Federation of Inventors Associations (IFIA) took place on April 28, 2023, in the Congress Hall in Geneva, Switzerland.
The event was attended by IFIA representatives from over 70 member countries. The assembly featured the re-election of Mr. Alireza Rastegar as the President of IFIA for the term of 2023-2027 following an absolute majority of votes.
The ceremony was honored by the presence of Mr. Marco M. Alemán, Assistant Director General of the Intellectual Property and Innovation Ecosystems Sector at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Mrs. Sophie Torelli Chironi, Head of the NGO Liaison Unit at the Office of the Director-General, United Nations Office at Geneva and Mr. Claude Membrez, General Manager of Palexpo.
The meeting began with the welcoming remarks of the IFIA President, who presented the Federation’s activity report for the last four years. Following this, IFIA’s Treasurer provided the financial report for the years 2018-2023, which was subsequently approved by the General Assembly.
Mr. John Calvert from the United States and Mr. Michal Szota from Poland were elected as the session managers responsible for overseeing the election of the IFIA President. Mr. Calvert requested the General Assembly to vote for the re-election of Mr. Alireza Rastegar as the President, given the absence of any other candidate, and the General Assembly unanimously voted in favor of his re-election.
Following Mr. Rastegar’s re-election, Mr. Marco M. Alemán, Assistant Director General IP and Innovation Ecosystems Sector at WIPO, delivered a speech highlighting the key role of inventions and innovations in advancing sustainable development and the cooperation between IFIA and WIPO.
He has expressed that IFIA and WIPO had longtime mutual cooperation. Therefore, he mentioned one of the significant IP projects in which the mandate of the IP for Innovators Department (IPID) is to provide local innovation support to innovation stakeholders and facilitate global technology transfer diversity and inclusion.
To achieve its mission, the Department focuses on capacity building to develop institutional innovation ecosystems of universities, knowledge transfer organizations, and other research and development institutions.
Moreover, Mrs. Sophie Torelli Chironi spoke about IFIA’s collaboration in achieving the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals and its role in this regard. She has expressed that every year, the UN Secretary-General presents an annual 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Progress report, which is developed in cooperation with the UN System, and based on the global indicator framework and data produced by national statistical systems and information collected at the regional level. Based on this approach, developing and implementing sustainable solutions by cooperating with International NGOs such Internation Federation of Inventors Association would increase mutual collaboration in the future.
Mr. Claude Membrez, General Manager of Palexpo, addressed the cooperation between IFIA and Palexpo and their support for the Federation. By combining knowledge, skills, and experiences, and a potential integration approach between Palexpo and IFIA during these years, I believe that awesome collaboration can emerge new opportunities for inventors all around the world.
The brilliant collaboration demonstrates discussing the valuable subject matter, the latest deserve innovations, and the chance for important industry professionals to network in the common ecosystem.
Mr. David Taji-Farouki, IFIA Senior Advisor, discussed the progress of the Federation over the past eight years, including its remarkable growth in membership, the unveiling of over 40 projects, and collaboration with IFIA members.
Mr. Yo Tae Soo, Vice President of the Korea Invention Promotion Association (KIPA), delivered a speech on KIPA’s activities in South Korea and their joint projects with IFIA.
The President of the Federation requested the General Assembly to approve amendments to the Federation’s constitution regarding the establishment of a second headquarter office in California, United States, and the election of the First Deputy President, which was eventually approved by the assembly.
During the meeting, the activity reports of various IFIA departments were presented by their respective managers. Mr. Rastegar proposed the establishment of a regional office of the Federation in Kuwait, which was approved by the General Assembly.
In addition, Mr. Alireza Rastegar has appointed four new vice presidents with the following details:
1- Mr. John Calvert from USA
2- Dr. Michal Szota from Poland
3- Mrs. Elinora Inga Sigurdardottir from Iceland
4- Mr. Zoran Barisic from Croatia
5- Mr. Winfried Sturm from Germany
Furthermore, twenty-five countries were elected by the General Assembly as members of the Executive Committee for the two-year term of 2023-2025 includes: Brazil, Dr. Marcelo Vivacqua / Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mr. Avdo Halilović / China, Mr. Zengpei Xuan / Croatia, Mr. Zoran Barisic / Czech Republic, Mr. Lukas Zmeskal / Egypt, Dr. Mahmoud Hafez / Germany, Mr. Winfried Sturm / Iceland, Mrs. Elinora Inga Sigurdardottir / Indonesia, Mrs. Megaria Augstina / Iran, Mr. Hossein Vaezi Ashtiani / Kuwait, Dr. Yahya A. Abdal, / Lebanon, Dr. Radwan Chouaib / Malaysia, Prof. Augustine S H Ong / Palestine, Prof. Kareem Tahboub / Poland, Mrs. Agnieszka Mikołajska / Qatar, Dr. Adnan Fahad Rashed Al Ramzani Al Naimi / Romania, Dr. Andrei Victor Sandu / South Africa, Mr. Kenneth Hawksworth / South Korea, Mr. Hyowon Jeon / Sri Lanka, Prof. N. M. S. Sirimuthu, / Sweden, Mr. Carlos Rodriguez / Switzerland, Ms. Caroline Simonet / Thailand, Dr. Unchalee Sanguanpong / Ukraine, Mr. Yevhen Kudriavets and United States of America, Mr. Matt Nuccio.
Meanwhile, Armenia applied for membership in the Federation, and the General Assembly voted in favor of its membership.
In addition, IFIA Statutes were amended by the majority of votes with the following details:
Articles 1
IFIA headquarters are located in the states of Geneva, Switzerland, and the state of California, the united states of America. IFIA branches can be situated in other countries to further fulfill its objectives.
Articles 11
The President and such person(s) as vice president, Directors, Secretary(ies), Treasurer and any other person the President deems necessary shall constitute IFIA Secretariat.
Also, Several countries, including Palestine, Japan, South Africa, and South Korea, presented their national activity reports.
In the end, as a token of appreciation, the presidency presented commemorative gifts to all attendees to mark the 55th anniversary of the Federation’s establishment.