With money laundering, business fraud, and illicit dealings detected in the business environment, the Business and Intellectual Property Authority (BIPA) and the Namibia Revenue Agency (NamRA) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to curb and educate those in the business world about these emerging crimes.

The collaboration between the two is to build a foundation that safeguards the rights of intellectual property rights holders, the owners of businesses, and those who are users and benefactors in both areas by exchanging information.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Business and Intellectual Property Authority (BIPA) says the Namibian Intellectual Property Rights Laws are outdated and not fit for purpose.

Vivienne Katjiuongua said this during the two-day Namibian Corporate Law Reform Project for the Regional Consultation Programme at Walvis Bay.

Katjiuongua says that as an institution, BIPA is going to look at how to improve the country's ranking in doing business, which includes automating its systems.

The Namibia Revenue Agency (NamRA) confiscated goods worth more than N$5 billion between 2004 and 2020.

This was revealed at the NamRA Talks event, where 10 participants presented topics on, among others, the impact of counterfeit goods on the economy and effective ways of taxation in the digital economy.

One of the participants, Onesmus Joseph, spoke about the impact of counterfeit goods on the national economy.

Also speaking at the event was Vivienne Katjiuongua, BIPA CEO

Her presentation focused mainly on intellectual property.