Creative Economy’ in UAE: Unleashing a Dynamic Intellectual Property Strategy
Creative Economy
“… Innovation and Creativity need an open and collaborative environment to thrive. Great ideas need partnerships to bring them to reality for our common benefit.”
Creativity has always been at the heart of intellectual property (IP) components, leading the way for the creative economy to emerge in a given national IP environment. The creative economy is initiated by design, music, art, fashion, film, and technology, which give rise to new jobs and sources of income. It is an evolving concept based on the contribution and potential of creative assets to contribute to economic growth and development. It is actively generated by human endeavor and talent in all its forms in the modern global economy. The creative economy is a key driver of economic growth.
Launched in 2021, the UAE’s National Strategy for the Cultural and Creative Industries (CCI) aims to promote the growth of the cultural and creative industries sector and increase its contribution to 5 percent of the GDP by 2031. The UAE’s CCI consists of the creativity, creation, production, distribution, and dissemination of goods and services of creative expression and cultural preservation that generate and sustain socio-economic impact.
This Strategy will enhance the UAE’s position as a global destination for a knowledge-based economy based on creativity, innovation, talent, and technology. Hence, cultural and creative industries performing in the UAE have direct economic outputs and serve the policy of economic diversification directly and effectively.
It is essential to study the inherent relationship between intellectual property and the rise of the creative economy in a developed market like the UAE. It is a dynamic relation between them, in a transformative process.
Daren Tang, WIPO Director General, March 4, 2022
New Economics for Sustainable Development: Creative economy, United Nations Economist Network, https://www.un.org/
GDP: Gross Domestic Product: Gross domestic product (GDP) is the standard measure of the value added created through the production of goods and services in a country during a certain period.
National Strategy for the Cultural and Creative Industries, The Official Portal of the UAE Government, 05 September 2023, https://u.ae/en/about-the-uae/strategies-initiatives-and-awards/strategies-plans-and-visions/finance-and-economy/national-strategy-for-the-cultural-and-creative-industries#:~:text=Launched%20in%202021%2C%20the%20UAE’s,the%20national%20GDP%20by%202031.
Launch of UAE Cultural and Youth, Ministry of Culture & Youth, United Arab Emirates.
In fact, using intellectual property as a driver of the creative economy is crucial, as IP is essential for the development of the creative economy. Intellectual Property Rights and Laws enable protection for creative and innovative works through effective IP regulations. Furthermore, IP permits creators to monetize their work and measure the “economic value” of the creative industries.
Moreover, the UAE is working on the impact of modern technology on intellectual property rights in the era of the digital revolution. The economic importance of creativity in the modern world is increasing along with interactive digital media and Internet-based distribution. It is noteworthy that the UAE has initiatives and future visions regarding the development of the metaverse ecosystem, the most prominent of which is the Dubai Metaverse Strategy, aiming to strengthen Dubai’s position as one of the top 10 cities in the field of the metaverse.
In parallel, creativity and a knowledge-based economy contribute to creating sustainable social and economic progress in the UAE by enabling the business environment through the outcomes of this pioneering Strategy. The Dubai Creative Economy Strategy aims to transform Dubai into an international destination for creativity and the capital of the creative economy by 2025 within a dynamic system that will enable it to develop its economy in all sectors.
It is known that the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) provides practical information to authors and performers who are in the process of establishing themselves in the market and clarifies the interface between talent and creativity on the one hand and management skills and entrepreneurship on the other hand.
Contact Our Team ›The UAE’s National Strategy seeks to strengthen the UAE’s position on the global scale, attract cultural projects, talents, and startups, increase the number of enterprises in the field, raise their income, and create new jobs in the creative industries, enhancing the creative economy’s role in the nation’s economic growth. In light of the national strategies established in the UAE as highlighted above, these steps play a key role in building up a consolidated IP system based on a sustainable knowledge-based economic model. The UAE is actively diversifying and accelerating an economy based on knowledge, innovation, and creativity.
UAE discusses impact of modern technology on intellectual property rights at WIPO Conversation, United Arab Emirates Ministry of Economy, 02 April 2023, https://www.moec.gov.ae/
Making a Living in the Creative Industries, WIPO, https://www.wipo.int/copyright/en/creative_industries/
