The Chairman of the Intellectual Property Organization (IPO) of Pakistan, Farukh Amil on Tuesday said that SMEs should get better awareness about the protection and enforcement of patents, copyrights, and trademarks to avoid counterfeiting and piracy of their products and flourish their business at the national and international level. He said this while addressing an awareness session on Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) organized by the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry in collaboration with IPO-Pakistan for the business community, said a press release issued here by ICCI. Farukh Amil briefed the business community about the role of IPO-Pakistan in nurturing an enabling IP environment through its initiative to promote businesses, creativity, and innovation. He said that the lack of an IP culture and weak IP enforcement are major challenges that need to be overcome and added that IPO-Pakistan is working to place Pakistan on the global IP map as a compliance and responsible country through increased public awareness, practice, and enforcement. He said that adherence to global standards on IP, through international treaties and societal practices will enhance Pakistan’s reputation as a business and investment-friendly country. He said that SMEs should benefit from the services of IPO-Pakistan for better protection of their patents, copyrights, and trademarks. Speaking on the occasion, Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that SMEs are the backbone of the economy and IPO-Pakistan should further simplify the IP registration processes and procedures and introduce mobile apps to facilitate SMEs in online registration of their products and services for copyrights and trademarks. He said that in the global competitive business environment, the role of IPO-Pakistan is very important in promoting innovations and startups and ensuring better economic growth of the country through strict enforcement of IPRs. He assured that ICCI would work with IPO-Pakistan to raise more awareness in the business community about the importance of IPRs for better growth of their businesses. Faad Waheed, Senior Vice President ICCI said that Pakistan needs to lay a strong foundation for a vibrant IP system to encourage innovations, business growth, and investment and hoped that IPO-Pakistan would contribute to making Pakistan a competitive economy. The business community members asked many questions about the IPRs and were given detailed answers.