Visually-Impaired Version 
A round table titled Intellectual Property Education: Opportunities and Prospects was held at Maqsut Narikbayev University (MNU). The event served as a significant expert platform, fostering dialogue among representatives of government agencies, international organisations, and the academic community on the role of education in cultivating professionals for the knowledge economy and fostering innovative development.
The discussion took place on the eve of the graduation of the first cohort from the Master’s programme in Intellectual Property and Business Law. This academic programme was launched at Maqsut Narikbayev University in partnership with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). MNU Provost Sergey Pen highlighted the strategic significance of intellectual property in the modern world, reaffirming the university’s mission as a catalyst for global transformation.
“Protecting innovation is perhaps the highest calling for a lawyer. We are proud to be part of an international programme with the World Intellectual Property Organization and to have earned the trust of partners such as the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, and WIPO itself,” said Sergey Pen.
The Intellectual Property and Business Law programme brought together 18 master’s students from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, India, and Tanzania. Under the guidance of faculty from MNU, the WIPO Academy, and universities in Singapore and the United Kingdom, students studied copyright and patent law, trademarks, innovation commercialisation, international business law, and other related disciplines. As noted by Vice Minister of Justice of the Republic of Kazakhstan Botagoz Zhakselekova, training specialists in this field is essential to advancing the creative industries and innovative entrepreneurship.
“Intellectual property is the currency of the future. The programme offered at Maqsut Narikbayev University prepares experts capable of working at the intersection of law, technology, and business. This is more than education—it is a strategic investment in a new generation of professionals,” said Botagoz Zhakselekova.
“This is one of the most impressive programmes I have seen, and I will certainly share it with my colleagues. We had long hoped for such an initiative to emerge in Kazakhstan, and this decision has proven to be absolutely right. It is the first WIPO programme in the Eurasian region, and it is already delivering remarkable results,” stated Habip Asan, Director of the Department for Transition and Developed Economies at WIPO.
It is worth noting that similar joint master’s programmes with WIPO are also being implemented in Argentina, Bulgaria, Zimbabwe, India, Spain, Italy, Cameroon, China, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Tunisia, Turkey, and South Korea.
