At Al Ahram’s Intellectual Property seminar: Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh: Every Arab Individual Should be Proud that (AGIP) Became the Largest IP Company Worldwide Abu-Ghazaleh: Egypt’s economy is set to become the sixth strongest in the world by 2030

CAIRO – The Boutros-Ghali Economic Forum hosted HE Dr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, founder and chairman of Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Global (TAG.Global), in a seminar entitled: (Intellectual Property: the Fuel that Ignites Creativity) in conjunction with the World Intellectual Property Day celebrations.

The seminar was held at the Mohamed Hassanein Heikal Hall at Al Ahram Press Establishment in the presence of writers, media professionals, and experts from Egypt, and was moderated by Al-Ahram Economy editor in chief, Mr. Sherif Abdel-Baki. During the seminar, Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh discussed the concept of Intellectual Property (IP) and the significant role TAG.Global plays globally in this field.

He talked about the challenges and difficulties he faced in the 1970’s when he started his I.P. business initiative, and continued his journey until it became one of the main contributors of intellectual property laws’ drafting in the Arab countries as well as the legislations that directly contributed to supporting national economies. He also touched upon the war he fought during his membership in the councils of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) for the purpose of protecting the intellectual products and technology-based ideas, such as Google.

Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh further explained how his intellectual property company, AGIP, was founded, explaining his determination to establish a digitized intellectual property company to become the top IP firm, not just in the Arab world, but globally, calling on everyone to be proud that there is an Arab firm leading the intellectual property profession at a global level.

On the other hand, Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh commended the approach followed by a number of Arab countries, Egypt in particular, in pursuing long-term development strategies by adopting infrastructure development policies that will inevitably lead to real economic growth.

“Egypt is capable to meet the challenges of the future to the extent that makes it entitled to join the Advanced Economies Club, and at the same time it is set to become the sixth strongest economy in the world by 2030, due to the fact that Egypt adopts ‘building of future’ strategy,” Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh said. 

Concerning the political situation around the world, Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh reaffirmed his expectations that the Russian-Ukrainian war may expand to involve much of the world- a third world war, ending up by setting up new principles for a better World Order, as the existing Order has become incapable of maintaining the peace, the security and the balanced relations amongworld powers.

In this regard, Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh cited the example of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council whose conflicting and contradictory interests made the Security Council unable to take important decisions, saying that the world has no global leadership, and pointing out that no one dares to say that America is still unable to lead the world, neither would China or Russia claim they can. That’s why, Abu-Ghazaleh believes, there is a  need for a ‘global conflict or action’ that can restore the balance of powers in a way that reflects the reality on the ground. At the end of the seminar, Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh said that global conflicts could be useful in this respect, urging all Arab countries to get the most of it in this case and to reposition themselves in the expected new world order.

It is worth mentioning the seminar opened the door for considerable discussions on intellectual property rights (IPRs) and laws in the Arab world, as well as their impact on the levels of creativity, innovation and development in Arab region. That is in addition to the compatibility of Arab laws, legislation and policies with international legislation, and their ability to provide an appropriate climate for Arab youth and innovators to draw attention to their ideas and products, and to protect Arab IPRs worldwide.