Improving software copyright protection will provide a big boost to economic growth in Asia by boosting jobs, business opportunities and government's revenue, industry groups said Thursday.

Nearly 54 per cent of software programs in Asia are now pirated and reducing that rate by 10 percentage points by 2006 could create 1.1 million new jobs and raise economic growth by 170 billion US dollars, the Business Software Alliance (BSA) industry group and research group International Data Corp. said.

It would also generate another 15 billion dollars in tax revenues, the two organisations said in a joint study of the impact of reducing software piracy in 57 countries, including 14 in Asia.

"This report reveals not only how significant the software sector has been for economic growth worldwide, but how it will continue to be the engine in powering the Asian economies forward," said Jeffrey Hardee, BSA's vice president and regional director.