RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has allocated a budget of SR1 billion ($267 million) for its recently launched National Intellectual Property Strategy to support inventors in the Kingdom and diversify its economy.
The budget of the NIPST, which was launched last week by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has been agreed to be distributed over a five-year period until 2028.
This strategy will be implemented through 12 initiatives which include 54 projects, according to Sami AlSudais, the vice president for Intellectual Property Policies and Partnerships at the Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property.
He further noted that the national strategy proposals are being executed by 37 governmental and private agencies.
Al-Sudais added that the NIPST intends to significantly increase inventors’ quantity in the coming period.
“The number of inventors in Saudi Arabia today is about a thousand, and we look forward to reaching this number to 13,000 in 2028,” he stated in an interview with Asharq Business on the sidelines of a press conference in Riyadh.
This strategy takes Saudi Arabia one step closer to its Vision 2030 goal of enhancing its position as one of the top ten countries on the Global Competitiveness Index by 2030, from its current ranking of 24.
In addition, it will also help uplift the Kingdom’s position on the International Institute for Administrative Development index in the field of intellectual property protection, from 34th place to reach the top 20 countries in this field in five years.
Al-Sudais added: “Today, Saudi Arabia is witnessing applications for intellectual property rights at a rate of 95 trademarks per million inhabitants, and our goal is to reach this number to 200 trademarks within five years.”
The NIPST is centered around four pillars — IP creation, IP administration, IP commercialization and IP protection — which will only be reached through enhancing cooperation and integration between the different national entities involved, as stated by the Saudi Press Agency.
“The adoption of NIPST supports the empowerment of innovators in various fields to build an ambitious country and a diversified and prosperous economy for the Kingdom and attracts interested researchers, entrepreneurs and innovators from Saudi Arabia and around the world towards innovation, creativity and respect of IP rights,” said SPA.
