In a lecture on the recent developments in intellectual property Abu-Ghazaleh: Priority for Arab countries is to move towards the knowledge society

Mr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh , President of the Arab Society for Intellectual Property
(ASIP) and Chairman of UN ICT Working Group on Human Resources and Capacity Building , confirmed that our top priority in the present age is to move towards the knowledge society, and within this new world economy where innovation maintains its role as a main tool for fair competition. He added that respecting intellectual property rights is one of the main options to enhance innovation , indicating that if intellectual property rights are not respected , there will be no innovation, and without innovation the economy will stop or stagnate.

This was stated in a lecture delivered by Mr. Abu-Ghazaleh on Sunday in Tripoli, capital of Libya, entitled "Recent Developments in Intellectual Property and Information Technology."

Mr. Abu-Ghazaleh said that we need to protect intellectual property for our present and for our development, as well as for the development of our economy , and that this is a message we wish to highlight and confirm in the Arab World.

He added that we cannot just be complacent and sit still while there are priorities which we should firmly establish and enhance, and which should be adopted by a wide range of sectors in the Arab countries for the following reasons:

First , because there is need to avoid the general trend to play the role of the victim- we respect intellectual property rights not because rich countries force us to do so- we do it because our interest obligates us to do so .

Second, on the mid-and long-terms , effective implementation depends on public support, which means that success requires a wide range of understanding, or at least, acceptance of the importance and value of intellectual property protection.

Third, at present, the trend towards complying with TRIPS provisions represents one of the most important developments in the field of managing intellectual property rights in the Arab World history. However, with respect to world standards, TRIPS does not establish a minimum of standards. In other words there remains a lot to be done, for example the need to accede to more international treaties on intellectual property, or improve the national legislation to take into consideration the new technologies or other developments. All of this needs the public understanding and support.

Fourth, understanding, respecting, and accepting a wide range of intellectual property rights may encourage the use of a selected policy which will contribute to the " knowledge capital" of the county, and this may encompass provisions related to direct foreign investment and organizing services and movement of natural persons, in addition to investment in research and development and allowing taxation grace periods and other matters.

Mr. Abu-Ghazaleh stated that the basic concept of intellectual property rights is the need to achieve a number of objectives represented in encouraging innovation and realizing balance between intellectual property rights and the public interest, as well as organizing trade and avoiding competition.

The speaker submitted suggestions on what he considers priorities for promoting intellectual property concepts in the Arab countries. These suggestions can be summarized as follows:
Implementing "TRIPS" Agreement and organizing support for the protection of intellectual property , improving the way of managing it, developing education and promoting Arab as well as international cooperation, accelerating research and development operations, and providing facilities and incentives by governmental bodies.

At the end of hislecture, Mr. Abu-Ghazaleh expressed his confidence that we can considerably contribute to developing resources of intellectual property and enhance our participation in a world economy based on knowledge.

During his visit to Tripoli, Mr. Abu-Ghazaleh met with a number of senior officials, among them was Eng. Ma?atouq Mohammad, Secretary of the Popular Committee of the National Commission for Scientific Research, and Dr. Shaker Ghanem, Secretary of the Popular Committee for Economy. He also visited the premises of the National Commission for Scientific Research.