Speaking on the sidelines of an International Conference on Software Technology, he said that sooner or later, Iran should sign up to the copyright law if it preferred to develop software industry.

"As long as the copyright law was not taken into account, international companies would not have the courage to make investment in Iran."

He said that development of software requires cooperation with the big international companies and that the Iranian companies should develop cooperation with them.

He said that software is an industry by itself and many Iranian companies have entered into this business without foresight. In this business, foresight is vital for keeping the customer, he said.

He recommended that Iranian companies follow the example of India and Japan in developing their expertise in software.