I want to thank each and every one of you for the enormous responsibility and privilege of being the President of CIOPORA for the next three years. Together with the new Board, we are highly motivated to continue working towards providing our members with a legal framework that protects their innovation and also to continue to promote the work of CIOPORA in order to attract more members.
I am absolutely sure that the footprint left by Steven Hutton and the former Board marks the path we must follow to continue strengthening our association. I want to highlight and thank Steve for his commitment to our association and its members during his six years as President. His role was fundamental in achieving the position that CIOPORA currently enjoys.
Our global reach is growing, with CIOPORA now comprising 152 active members from all five continents. In fact, 2022 saw a record number of new members, particularly in the fruit breeding and medicinal cannabis sectors.
This incredible growth highlights the successful implementation of our strong strategy and reflects each member's commitment to our association's mission. Your role in spreading the word about CIOPORA is vital to achieving our goals, and we encourage you to actively participate in our actions, stay in touch with our team, and utilize the tools, programs, and documents created by CIOPORA to strengthen your intellectual property rights (IPR) strategies.
The growth of recent years and the achievements made only serve to motivate us further to continue working and strengthening the legal framework that promotes innovation in plants. For the next years, some of our goals are:
- to continue with the internationalization of our association, attracting more members, and generating a greater impact in more influential economies;
- to continue developing digital tools for our members;
- to generate more knowledge and awareness regarding the impact of a robust IP portfolio on the business.
I know the challenges are high, but I am convinced that we will achieve significant progress in this matter. Our diverse and international Board brings together years of industry experience, a range of crop perspectives, and extensive knowledge of CIOPORA's mission.
As many of you know, CIOPORA is a family open to welcoming more plant breeders, protecting plant innovation, and generating more awareness about the impact of plant breeders' work worldwide. We invite you to continue working together and rest assured that you have the support of this new Board in all your challenges.
Wendy Cashmore
CIOPORA President