Nearly 54 percent 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 firm 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.

"As the software industry is growing more rapidly than traditional industries, it will become a prominent driver of economic growth," he said.

Using Singapore as a case study, the report said a 10 percent drop in software piracy in the city-state could create more than 1,700 jobs, bring in an additional 64 million dollars in tax revenue and generate 1.3 billion dollars in new business opportunities.

The region's technology sector would also receive a huge filip if software piracy is reduced, the report said.

A 10 percentage point drop in the piracy rate can boost the sector's growth to 93 percent compared with the 54 percent being projected between 2001 and 2006, it said.

Globally, 40 percent of software programs sold in 2001 were pirated, the report said.

Cutting the figure down to 30 percent will add 1.5 million jobs, increase economic growth by 400 billion dollars and generate 64 billion dollars in new tax revenues, the report said.

SPACE.WIRE