Cambodia will renew its memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the European Patent Office (EPO) to boost investment from Europe, the Ministry of Industry and Handicrafts said.

The decision was made during a meeting between Minister of Industry and Handicrafts Cham Prasidh and EPO president Antonio Campinos on Monday.

The ministry and the EPO signed the MoU on January 23, 2017.

On Monday, Prasidh requested that the EPO help train local intellectual property officials. “Intellectual property work is important and has an impact on the economy,” he said.

Campinos agreed to support the training of human resources in the Kingdom and to renew the agreement with the ministry.

“This visit to Cambodia aims to strengthen bilateral relations. We are also attending a conference on intellectual property in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap,” he said.

Prasidh said Cambodia works with Singapore, Japan, China and the EU to register and validate patents.

Since 2015, the ministry has received 816 patent applications, of which 150 have been finalised.

The EU has filed 230 patent applications in Cambodia.