ISLAMABAD: Awareness of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) is necessary for the growth of businesses, but unfortunately this issue was not being given importance by a lot of business people in the country, said Meesaq Arif, Director IPR, here on Saturday.

Speaking to businesswomen here at a workshop, organised by the Islamabad Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IWCCI) on “awareness among businesswomen about importance of IPR,” he said: “We are doing our level best to improve service delivery for IP rights registration while we have close coordination with IPR enforcement agencies, including FIA, Police and Pakistan Customs to effectively address issues of piracy and counterfeiting in the country,” he remarked.

He said the government continued to streamline its governance systems and strengthening the IPR regime which would not only help develop genuine business at local level and attract foreign direct investment but also open avenues for Pakistani businesses in international markets.

Samina Fazil, founder-president of IWCCI, said that registration of IP rights takes long time which should be reduced to minimum level for ease of IP right holders.

Published in Dawn, May 29th, 2016