For the first time in the Kingdom a conference dedicated to eradicating counterfeit products is set to take place later this year. The First Arab Consumer and Brand Protection Forum 2008 will be held in Jeddah on October 19-21 with the support of the Arab League and the Islamic Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ICCI). The World Customs Organization (WCO) is also backing the forum to be held under the auspices of Makkah Emir Prince Khaled Al-Faisal Al Saud, at the Jeddah Hilton. In 2006 the Saudi economy suffered a $620 billion loss, a 10 percent increase from 1996, as a result of commercial fraud and counterfeiting. Commercial fraud defrauds the region of about $50 billion annually, accounting for approximately six percent of the $780 billion lost worldwide every year to piracy, according to WCO Secretary General Michel Danet. The Forum aims to find ways to trigger Arab world public participation in the global war on commercial fraud and piracy. “We will be focusing on the existence of a mechanism to activate rules, adjust them, and adding new ones to protect the consumer,” said Faisal Bin Othmain, an executive member and public relations manager with Hemaya Universal, co-organizer of the forum. Hemaya Universal is pioneering the Arab private sector effort to protect consumers from fraudulent trade and safeguard intellectual property rights in the region. “Our goal is to discuss and see how to adjust, develop, rules that fit with the new situation of the increasing percent of counterfeiting in the whole Arab region,” Othmain said. After the forum, a national eight-month awareness campaign will begin, Bin Othaimin said, its coverage includes amusement parks to schools. The campaign is designed to spread awareness of the damages counterfeited goods cause both physically and economically. “The campaign will take place in five countries for five years and so far we haven't decided where the next campaign will be, we are waiting for feedback and the reactions from the first forum,” Bin Othaimin said. “The forum will include international organizations and will host brand owners in addition to officials from the ministries of Commerce and ministries of Finance of the Arab League and any government sector dealing with counterfeiting.” The Forum is the brainchild of the Arab League, resulting from collaboration by its Secretary General Amr Moussa, with Hemaya Universal, according to Arab League assistant secretary general for Economic Affairs, Dr. Mohammed Bin Ibrahim Tuwaijri. “Such synergy between the public and private sectors is critical in enabling this region to compete effectively in the international marketplace,” Dr. Tuwaijri said in a speech to the recent 4th Global Congress on Combating Counterfeiting and Piracy. __
