New Delhi: India needs to improve its track record for enforcing intellectual property rights without which global small and medium enterprises will not invest in the country, an EU official said today.

"India is not considered an efficient production location in terms of IPR. Its image has to improve with regard to intellectual property rights to enable investment from small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that create employment and investment," Chief Programme Coordinator of EU-India Trade and Investment Development Programme (TIDP) D Kebschull said here.

He said that European SMEs fear that if they invest in India their designs and patterns will be copied. "There are laws but there is hardly any enforcement and awareness about IPRs." EU-India Advisor A Sahasranaman said the European SMEs want to be assured of efficient enforcement.

He said awareness about IPRs needs to be raised in police and bureaucracy. "There is a need for overall awareness."

Kebschull said India is attracting investment in stock market and not much of FDI is coming in the SME segment. "India does not need investors who speculate and earn from high interest rates and rupee appreciation. It needs SMEs which create employment and income," he said.

Source : PTI