53. We acknowledge the role of intellectual property rights for promoting innovation, contributing to industry‘s productivity, growth and competitiveness in the digital economy and that IPR-intensive industries contribute more than other industries to increase GDP, employment and trade. IP assets play a crucial role in companies' business strategies and governments support IP asset development and the use of IPRs among companies as part of their proactive industrial policies. 54. Effective IPR enforcement is a critical component of robust IPR systems. The rise of IP infringements in the digital economy is of growing concern for governments, industries and consumers worldwide. 55. Therefore, we recognize the need to have in place strong enforcement mechanisms for IP, including through international collaboration, to the benefit of IP right holders engaged in both large and small businesses, in light of serious risk of economic loss stemming from IP infringement including counterfeiting, piracy and misappropriation of trade secrets. 56. In light of the above, we the G7 ICT and Industry Ministers intend to work together to ensure the ability of right holders and governments to achieve effective protection and enforcement of IP, including the fight against counterfeiting and piracy, misappropriation of trade secrets and transnational organized crime. We identify the following areas of interest for future work within the existing international intellectual property organizations: a. support the sharing of information and experiences to curb illicit trade; b. strengthen capacity to protect and enforce intellectual property rights, also considering the impact of new digital technologies such as 3D printing for intellectual property law; c. share approaches for the effective protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights at national and international level. d. support right holders’ ability to protect their intellectual property rights by enhancing multistakeholder international collaboration and public-private partnerships, also taking into account mechanisms to help SMEs to protect their IPRs. G7 ICT and Industry Ministerial Meeting 2017│ MAKING THE NEXT PRODUCTION REVOLUTION INCLUSIVE, OPEN AND SECURE 14