Africa-Press – Angola. Angolan Minister of Industry and Trade, Rui Miguêns de Oliveira, on Tuesday defended joint efforts to strengthen measures and policies to combat counterfeiting, with a view to protecting public health.
Speaking in Luanda at the workshop on Exchange of good practices in the fight against counterfeiting for Portuguese-speaking African Countries (PALOP), he pointed out the need to foster economic development, in the fight against tax evasion and organized crime, for the commitment to global stability.
He added that betting on similar initiatives is the surest way to allow practices to adapt to the rules adopted at international level.
The Minister hopes that the matters addressed in the scope of Industrial Property will positively impact the lives of ordinary citizens and companies, as well as the growth and development of the country.
‘Clearly, at the level of our country, efforts have already been developed, with programs to disseminate industrial property matters and repression of unfair competition and counterfeiting, with the involvement of the different intervening bodies,’ he explained.
The government official considered it essential that States adopt effective policies to combat this practice, ensuring the protection of industrial property rights, the well-being of the population and economic stability.
Rui Miguêns de Oliveira reiterated the commitment to discouraging and combating counterfeiting, in addition to the need to give special importance to collaboration with projects related to this theme.
He recalled that counterfeiting destabilizes and discourages the formal economy, since legally established companies lose competitiveness in the face of counterfeit products, which contributes to unemployment and tax evasion.
‘Another relevant point is the link between counterfeiting and organized crime. Several investigations reveal that profits obtained from counterfeit products finance criminal networks involved in drug trafficking, arms trafficking and even terrorism, and are therefore a factor of national and global instability,’ he explained.
The workshop on Exchange of good practices to combat counterfeiting for the PALOP countries takes place from the 27th to the 29th of this month, in an initiative of the European Union Intellectual Property Office, in partnership with the Angolan Institute of Industrial Property (IAPI) and the National Institute of Industrial Property of Portugal.
The main objective of the event is to follow up on the work started last year in Cabo Verde, as well as to provide a platform for the exchange of experiences, building on the ongoing global efforts to increase and strengthen border collaboration in anti-counterfeiting practices.
The workshop, organized under the African Intellectual Property Rights and Innovation Project (AfriPI), brings together policymakers, executive agencies and business leaders from the PALOP.
For More News And Analysis About Angola Follow Africa-Press
