The government is in the process of finalising a draft addressing intellectual property rights (IPR) laws in the country after due consultation with all stakeholders, said Commerce Minister Khurram Dastgir. The draft is expected to be completed by year end.
Commerce Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan, while talking to media after 3rd consultative session of National Intellectual Property Strategy on Monday informed that a strategy is being formulated and the seminar is one of the components of it.
Khan highlighted that the government will ensure measures that will be directed towards increasing exports. He informed that trade with India was being ruled by Trade Policy 2012.
Speaking on the issue of Cyber Crime, Khan informed, “following directives of the prime minister, the parliament has initiated a legislation process. However, the cyber crime bill has already been passed by the parliament last year.”
Addressing a question, Khan said that the energy crisis has led to slowing down of the country’s growth rate but he assured that the government is paying due consideration to deal with the crisis. Various initiatives taken by the government include different power generation projects using alternative resources such as like coal, hydel, wind and solar. Of the $46 billion investment under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, projects worth $30 billion had already been started, he added.
Addressing the Pak-Afghan trade, Khan said that the turmoil in Afghanistan was also affecting Pakistan leading to a major setback for the country. He highlighted, “we have to maintain a balance in security and trade.”
Earlier, while addressing the audience at the consultative session, he said rights of exporters, technological expertise, cultural matters and literature could not be secured without having a proper mechanism for intellectual property (IP). “Awareness of IP among general public will ensure innovative development,” he said.
The government is in constant liaison with the Intellectual Property Organization (IPO) to devise a strategy to protect IP including trademarks, patents and copyright, he added.
He also informed that prime minister envisions aligning country’s trade with requirements of the 21st century. “If we want to protect our intellectual property rights, then we also have to care about IP of other countries in the world,” he added.
Trade protection laws have been passed by the parliament in 2015, Khan said. In addition, Geographical Identification laws for the protection of industrial and agricultural production were in final stages of processing and they would be presented in the parliament in the within a couple of months.
Regarding the rules governing e-commerce in the country, Khan said that there were a few complications which the government hoped to resolve soon.
