Bangladesh needs a stronger intellectual property protection mechanism to become more attractive for foreign direct investment, according to Syed Ershad Ahmed, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Bangladesh (AmCham).

"A strengthened intellectual property rights (IPR) regime is essential for the country to position itself as an attractive destination for global business, promoting sustainable economic integration and growth," he said.

Ahmed informed that while the country has made good progress to this end, there are areas for improvement and AmCham would provide the necessary support.

Against this backdrop, Ahmed urged for implementing and centralising customs recordation, a provision for which was introduced earlier this year.

Although customs recordation was included in an amendment to the customs act, it is not actually being followed, he said.

"Obviously, there are some practical challenges. We will discuss this further," the AmCham president added.

Ahmed made these comments at a discussion, styled "Strengthening IPR Frameworks: Challenges and Way Forward", organised by the AmCham at The Westin Dhaka yesterday.

Barrister Hamidul Mesbah, an IPR expert, said the National Board of Revenue (NBR) has yet to reach a verdict on about 100 applications lodged for settling issues related to IPR since 2020.

"The ICT and software industries would not face challenges if copyright and IPR laws are properly implemented. Instead, it would encourage foreign investment," he added.

Shilpi Jha, senior commercial specialist and IP policy adviser for South Asia at the United States Patent and Trademark Office, said they aim to strengthen IPR laws in the region.

As such, they have helped arrange capacity-building training programmes for local IP officials with the help of some other foreign organisations and the industries ministry, said Jha.

Hossain Ahmed, member (customs policy and ICT) of the NBR, said there was a communication gap between the revenue authority and the industries with pending IPR applications.

Among others, representatives of different companies alongside local and foreign investors also spoke.