It is high time efforts needed to be made to fight against intellectual property (IP) infringement to achieve the middle-income country status by 2021, experts said at a programme yesterday.
They came up with the observation at the launching ceremony of campaign against intellectual property infringement organised by the Intellectual Property Association of Bangladesh (IPAB) at a city hotel.
The country’s 27 business sectors will work together under this campaign.
The campaign aims at enhancing public awareness, facilitating legal enforcement and supporting the government to formulate effective regulations to ensure Intellectual Property Rights in the country.
“Our Jamdani saree is world famous, Baul songs touch our heart. We shall hold inter-ministerial meetings to find out scope to help the IPAB’s efforts to protect intellectual property rights of our own products like Jamdani,” said Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed while addressing the programme as the chief guest.
State Minister for Home Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and FBCCI President Abdul Matlub Ahmad were present as special guests.
As a part of the campaign, an independent research will be conducted to identify sector-wise prospects and challenges and to count the government’s revenue losses so that it could be measured how much the economy is being affected by IPR violation, said the IPAB.
The findings of the research will be published and handed over to concerned government authorities for the greater interest of the stakeholders, it added.
IPAB believes the successful execution of campaign would help Bangladesh become a middle-income country by 2021.
Parliamentary affairs secretary M Shahidul Haque, industries secretary Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan, Dhaka North City Corporation Mayor Annisul Haque, IPAB President Salahuddin Abdullah and Director General M Azizur Rahman were present at the function.
