ISLAMABAD:The COMSTECH in collaboration with Inter-Islamic Network of Science and Technology Parks in Iran inaugurated a two-day International advanced training course on Intellectual Property, at COMSTECH on Wednesday.
The inaugural session of the training was presided by Seyed Mohammad Ali Hosseni, the Ambassador of Islamic Republic of Iran.
He said the goal of COMSTECH was to help in promoting bilateral and multilateral relations of Islamic countries in the development of science and technology and scientific capacity building, the important steps have been taken and there is a long way to go.
Hosseni said that Islamic world was full of talent and human capital which needs to be tapped for the development of Islamic world.
He said that Islamic Republic of Iran always supports COMSTECH activities and hosted COMSTECH Networks in the fields of intellectual property and virtual universities of Islamic world.
Hosseni said that intellectual property rights preserve and protect the right to benefit from thought and creativity and transform it into economic value.
He said maintaining the ownership and rights were particularly important for the development of regional trade.
He suggested that the Islamic countries should consider it as one of the main prerequisites for the development of regional trade.
Hosseni said that Iran and Pakistan were two brotherly countries and had deep religious, cultural and historical ties and had been living together in peace and friendship for more than seven decades.
The Coordinator General COMSTECH, Prof. Dr. M. Iqbal Choudhary welcomed the chief guest, Ambassador Hosseini.
He said this advanced course was jointly being organized by COMSTECH and Inter-Islamic Network on Science and Technology Park (INSTP), Iran.
He said INSTP was one the thirteen networks, established by the COMSTECH General Assembly.
“I am pleased to report here that Islamic Republic of Iran hosts three of these networks which are contributing towards the science and technology development of the OIC region.”
Prof. Choudhary said that Innovation in technology was moving very fast and a credible intellectual property system was a powerful stimulus to such innovation.
The protection of intellectual property rights (IPRs) greatly influences investment decisions, both in the industrial sector as well in research and development.
However, nations can only benefit from the innovation potential of their scientists and technologists if they have the competence and capacity to protect their IPRs both nationally and internationally to translate them into saleable products and services for socio-economic development.
He said that IPRs was now the backbone of global trade and business and mentioned that in 2020, developing countries had paid 340 billion USD in royalties for the use of IP, and received 80 billion USD.
A large portion of innovation in the developing world is either wasted or pirated due to the lack of IPRs policies and practices.
He said that nations and individuals build their capacity to protect their intellectual capitals and use them for socio economic development.
The Ambassadors of Yemen, Iraq and Sudan participated in the inaugural session along with the participants from Uzbekistan, Malaysia and Iran.
Over 300 participants, including over 230 online participants from some 11 countries, are participating in this important event.