COMMERCE Trade and Industry Minister Bob Sichinga has hailed the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) for training various research and development institutions stakeholders on patent search strategies and techniques.

Mr Sichinga said Government welcomed the development because the link between research and economic development could only be realized through commercialisation of research products.

He was speaking when he officiated at a three-day Patents and Companies Registration Agency (PACRA) workshop in Lusaka yesterday.

Mr Sichinga said the promotion of research and innovation may only be achieved through access and utilisation of patent information by researchers and the business sector.

"It is a known fact that in developing and least developed countries, Zambia inclusive, the use of patent information has not been fully utilised," Mr Sichinga said.

PACRA chief executive officer Anthony Bwembya said Intellectual Property (IP) was a corner stone of economic development and that it was crucial in the fight against poverty.

Mr Bwembya said PACRA would collaborate with WIPO in ensuring that IP issues were promoted in the country to improve people's living standards.

WIPO counsellor for least developed countries, Joyce Banya said her organisation encouraged developing countries to develop national intellectual property plans and strategies within the specific context of their own economic circumstances.