Cambodia and Singapore signed an agreement in late January to allow companies and individuals who register their ideas for patent protection in either country to have them recognized by both.

Cham Prasidh, minister of industry and handicrafts, and Tan Yih San, chief executive of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS), signed a memorandum of understanding on January 20, 2015 that will see mutual recognition of patents and industrial designs registered in either country, IPOS said in a press release on Janurary 23.

Prasidh is quoted in the statement as saying the agreement would increase trade between the two countries, and with other countries in the region.

“The alignment of our IP procedures will spur greater trade flow between Singapore and Cambodia, and open up more economic opportunities for investors in the two countries and in ASEAN,” Prasidh said. Specific details of the MoU have not been released.

George Styllis at the Cambodia Daily reported that although Cambodia joined the World Trade Organization in 2004 and has promised to ramp up efforts to protect intellectual property, it has made few concrete strides toward doing so.