Egypt launched its National Strategy for Intellectual Property on 21 September in a ceremony attended by the World Intellectual Property Organisation’s (WIPO) Director-General Daren Tang.

The strategy, launched under the patronage of President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi, fully aligns with the WIPO Development Agenda, the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, and Egypt’s Vision 2030.

In his speech at the ceremony Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli said the launch reflected Egypt’s interest in the role intellectual property (IP) protection can play in advancing the Egyptian economy and achieving the goals of Egypt’s Vision 2030.

The strategy establishes a national apparatus for IP and is expected to boost Egypt’s digital transformation. It aims to stimulate innovation and creativity and enhance technology across the economic, social, scientific, and cultural fields.

Work on the strategy began in December 2020 and continued until June 2022 and involved 17 ministries, 18 authorities, eight IP experts and Synerjies Centre for International and Strategic Studies, a Middle East-based think tank specialising in macroeconomic, geopolitical, developmental, and other policy-related research.

“The strategy is a key achievement that will have far-reaching implications for many vital sectors and is a critical milestone towards Egypt’s aspirations to augment its turn to a knowledge-based economy,” Synerjies said.

The Forum for Development and Human Rights Dialogue says the strategy will maximise the benefits of scientific research, support the national economy and encourage researchers to innovate and present new ideas for development.

In a phone-in with Al-Hayat TV channel, Mahmoud Sakr, president of the Academy of Scientific Research, said the strategy will reassure technology companies that Egypt respects intellectual property rights.

“It [the strategy] will have a direct economic return,” said Sakr, “and underlines that Egypt is a safe destination for technological investment and innovation.”

Yasser Gadallah, dean of the National Institute for Intellectual Property at Helwan University, hailed the strategy as a sign that the state is embracing a long-term strategy to enhance innovation by coordinating the work of all involved ministries.

The Geneva-based WIPO was created in 1970 to promote and protect IP by cooperating with countries and international organisations. Egypt has been a member of WIPO since 1975 and is signatory to 14 WIPO agreements.

They include the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Property, the Patent Cooperation Treaty, the Madrid Agreement on the International Registration of Marks and the Hague Agreement on the International Deposit of Industrial Designs.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 29 September, 2022 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.