Secretary industries urges promotion of copyright laws

Says anti-piracy policies can help strengthen the economy as a whole.

LAHORE:

Industries, Commerce and Investment Secretary Punjab Dr Shujaat Ali said that creating awareness in the public and private sector about intellectual property (IP) rights and institutional and legal arrangements for enforcement will strengthen the economy.

Awareness about IP rights can help create job opportunities, promote investment and innovation in the country, he went on to say, while addressing a training workshop on ‘Trade related aspects of intellectual property rights’, in Lahore on Tuesday.

The workshop was organised by Industries, Commerce and Investment, Government of Punjab in collaboration with the Pakistan Institute of Trade and Development (Pitad) and the World Trade Institute.

“There is a need for reforms related to trade and investments to bring Pakistan at par with the first world.”

Ali also threw light on the copyrights awareness campaign of the private sector and geographical indications registration.

Pitad Director General Tahir Maqsood thanked the International Trade Centre for services, particularly regulations related to trade, IP rights and cooperation in training and research on other issues. Maqsood said that more than 13 training modules had been initiated in various sectors with the cooperation of the International Trade Centre.

Master trainers from the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan Muhammad Aslam and the World Trade Institute Dr Henning Gross Ruse Khan also briefed the participants. The training workshop was aimed at educating the government’s representatives about anti-piracy and copyrights to help them frame better policies in the future.

Government officers of federal and provincial governments, researchers and non-governmental organisations attended the workshop.

Later, certificates were also distributed among participants.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 13^th, 2013.

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