JEDDAH: The Arab League and Hemaya Universal are jointly organizing the first Arab consumer and brand protection forum to discuss ways to rein in the spread of commercial fraud and violation of intellectual property rights in Arab countries on Sunday.
Makkah Governor Prince Khaled Al-Faisal will inaugurate the three-day forum at the Hilton Hotel in Jeddah in which more than 1,000 Saudi and international experts and representatives of various companies will participate, according to a statement from the governor’s office yesterday.
“The economies of Arab nations are being threatened by counterfeiting and it is one of the major obstacles that hamper economic growth in the region. The forum aims to study the menace from different angles in a scientific style and lay down a strategy to curb it and will support the efforts of individuals, organizations and companies in educating the society to achieve a high level of public awareness of consumer protection and intellectual property rights,” Khaled Al-Hamadan, a member of the forum’s organizing committee, said.
Al-Hamadan estimated the annual loss caused by fraud in the intellectual property rights in the Arab world at $50 billion.
Emphasizing the significance of the forum Al-Hamadan said “more than half of the software programs used in the countries in the region, particularly the Arab world are imitations while the pirated programs in some Arab countries crossed 84 percent and in some Gulf countries 64 percent.”
