Saudi Arabia: Intellectual property as an economic pillar

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has announced the launch of the National Intellectual Property Strategy (NIPST) to support the Kingdom's economy based on innovation and creativity. The strategy is one of the possibilities to achieve the goals of the Kingdom's Vision 2030, which aims to build an Intellectual Property (IP) system that supports an economy based on innovation and creativity, by establishing an IP value chain that stimulates the competitiveness of innovation and creativity and supports economic growth for the Saudi Kingdom to become a leader in the field of IP. 

The Crown Prince affirmed his aspirations to stimulate creativity and innovation through the NIPST in the Kingdom over the next five years, following the Cabinet's decision to adopt the national IP strategy. "We have passionate minds and energies for innovation and creativity, and by enabling them, the Kingdom will be a fertile environment for the knowledge economy through an integrated Intellectual Property system that supports the development of innovative technologies and industries and contributes to the growth of businesses," the crown prince said. 

The NIPST is based on four basic pillars: IP generation or creation, IP management or administration, commercial investment and IP protection. IP generation became one of the pillars of the strategy because of its great importance and its contribution to generating IP assets of economic and social value. The management pillar aims to raise the value of intellectual property by establishing a rapid and high quality registration system for its purpose of ensuring effective management of human creativity. Commercial investment will contribute to growth and improve the attractiveness of the Kingdom for future international investment. 

This comes in light of the Kingdom's investments in future cities and projects based on innovation and creativity, such as The Line, Oxagon or Sindalah, which have a distinguished geographical location and strong digital infrastructure. Meanwhile, the intellectual property protection pillar aims to activate the market economy through the protection of intellectual property. It works to respect intellectual property rights and enhance the value of their protection of creative rights. In an attempt to achieve these pillars, it will work to foster cooperation and integration among national entities as a key partner to support the objectives of the new strategy. 

The International Monetary Fund said in its World Economic Report that Saudi Arabia's capital will grow 7.6% in 2022 and 3.7% next year, after growing 3.2% last year, thanks to higher oil prices and efforts to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, data in the October outlook showed. In the third quarter of 2022, the national economy will grow by 8.8% compared to the same period last year, facilitated by rapid growth in oil and non-oil activities, according to the latest data from the General Statistics Authority. 

"The National Intellectual Property Strategy will also stimulate investment, create high quality jobs and raise awareness of human rights, creators and innovators," the crown prince added. The adoption of the NIPST supports the empowerment of male and female creators in various fields to build an ambitious nation and a diversified and prosperous economy for Saudi Arabia and attracts interested researchers, entrepreneurs and innovators in the Saudi kingdom and around the world through innovation, creativity and respect for intellectual property rights. 

The Saudi kingdom is developing new projects, such as a $500 billion futuristic smart city and other developments as it continues to focus on diversifying its economy and attracting more investment to the country, which is expected to be fully self-sufficient in terms of energy and 4.0 technology for greater efficiency of its electricity spending, while providing many facilities for its fellow citizens in the years to come.