JEDDAH, 26 February 2006 — “The Saudi economy loses more than SR4 billion annually because of counterfeits,” said Majed Garoub, a young Saudi lawyer, yesterday in a forum on intellectual property rights held here and organized by the Saudi Law Training Center. “Implementing the rules for intellectual property rights is a top priority for the country if it wants to survive the fierce competition in the global economy,” added Garoub.
According to the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI), the Saudi economy loses over SR4 billion annually because of the availability of counterfeits in the market. Garoub, the head of the Saudi Law Training Center, however, said that these figures do not represent the actual losses of Saudi companies. “The projected figures show the losses of foreign companies working in the Kingdom, since Saudi companies losses stand at more than SR4 billion,” he explained.
After the Kingdom’s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), the business environment in the country is expected to face an immense pressure from global competition, and “the only way to counter this pressure,” said Garoub, “is to advance the implementation of intellectual property rights.” Garoub explained that this is the only way to nationalize and to develop the Saudi industries.
Garoub mentioned that respecting property rights is not only a factor for the development of the Saudi economy but also a sign of the country’s social and institutional development.
For the economy to develop further it is important to increase the awareness of the Saudi populace on the importance of promoting intellectual property rights, and to achieve this, Garoub suggests several measures.
First, is to increase the people’s awareness and make them bear some of the responsibilities in countering frauds and counterfeits. “This can only be achieved through improving the quality of education especially in legal fields,” said Garoub.
Second, the private sector should contribute more to the promotion of intellectual property rights by establishing private institutes that promote inventions and help in acquiring the required patents.
Third, the Saudi legal system should introduce harsher measures for those who are involved in counterfeit activities. “They (counterfeiters) should pay huge fines for the damage they cause to the economy, the society and the inventors of the original products,” proposed Garoub.
When Arab News asked Garoub about the number of cases filed against counterfeiters in the Kingdom, he replied that numbers and figures do not matter. Garoub, who yawned several times while replying to the question, accused the Saudi press of being consistent on finding relevant figures and numbers without touching on the real causes of such issues. “The problem with the Saudi press is that they look for numbers and figures thus they have a superficial way in dealing with counterfeit issues,” said Garoub.