Creating the Future Today - this is the theme of the first World Intellectual Property Day on April 26, 2001. Four words that underscore the importance of innovators and artists to the development and growth of societies everywhere.

We owe the inventions, designs and works of art that ease our workload, improve our living conditions and enrich and beautify our surroundings, to a long line of men and women whose creativity and invention have led us from the inkwell to the Internet and from railways to rockets.

Let us use this first World Intellectual Property Day to salute these special individuals who power us forward and give us the opportunity to create a better future. They are an encouragement to all and should inspire us to work together - men and women, young and old, of every nation - towards a universal culture of creativity.

We salute them and pledge ourselves to ensuring that their works are put to good use for the common benefit of all countries.