Institutional arrangements on piracy show positive results
By Ali Imran

ISLAMABAD—Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said that the Government of Pakistan has institutionalised the arrangements for effective enforcement of International Piracy Regulations (IPRs) both at policy and implementation level.
He was talking to a delegation of International Federation of Phonographic Industry (IFPI), which called on him here at the Prime Minister’s House Thursday.
The Prime Minister said that with the establishment of Intellectual Property Organisation of Pakistan (IPO-Pakistan) in 2005, the anti piracy and counterfeiting mechanism has been put in place and the government is proud of curtailing pirated movies in the country. He called upon the need for a better market strategy and promoting of brand names to make legitimate products available in the market at a cheaper price so as to discourage piracy. The Prime Minister further said that besides taking other measures to control piracy, (IPO-Pakistan) has established Regional Enforcement Coordination Committees in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad as part of the enforcement chain and also initiated an IP awareness programme throughout the country. He said Piracy is now a cognizable and non-bailable offence in Pakistan and various agencies are operating at various levels to control the violators.
The Prime Minister said that because of structural reforms and macro-economic polices introduced by the government, the economy is growing of an impressive rate, the middle class, he said is growing thus enhancing the buying power of the people to buy legitimate products from the market .
The Prime Minister said that Pakistan is an attractive destination for investment because of a total population of 165 million people 100 million are below the age of 25, which would be a great attraction for the investors. He called upon the phonographic companies to invest in Pakistan as good demand exists in the country.
The delegation appreciated the government of Pakistan’s efforts in checking piracy and expressed confidence on the government policies. They also informed the Prime Minister that they are fully satisfied with the steps taken by Pakistan Government and their companies are now willing to invest in Pakistan.
The meeting was attended by the Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting, Mr. Tariq Azeem Khan and concerned federal secretaries.