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Saudi G20 Presidency Draws up Map for Recovery of Global Tourism

The G20 tourism ministers hold a virtual meeting amid the pandemic.
The G20 tourism ministers hold a virtual meeting amid the pandemic.
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Saudi G20 Presidency Draws up Map for Recovery of Global Tourism

The G20 tourism ministers hold a virtual meeting amid the pandemic.
The G20 tourism ministers hold a virtual meeting amid the pandemic.

Saudi Arabia hosted last week the G20 Leaders Summit as tourism throughout the world is enduring its worst ever crisis due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The outbreak has led to global economic recession, crippled transportation and lockdowns have struck at the very core of tourism.

Realizing the danger, the leaders of the G20 countries sought to revive the sector, underscoring its economic importance and employment of hundreds of millions of people throughout the world. Estimates at the beginning of the pandemic showed that 75 million jobs in the travel and tourism sectors were at risk.

Given that tourism and travel make up nearly 10.3 percent of the world’s GDP, Saudi Arabia, as G20 president, sought since the beginning of the pandemic to support efforts to revive these sectors. It exerted efforts to push forward economic revival as the outbreak began to weaken.

The G20 Leaders' Declaration addressed the tourism and travel crisis, with members expressing their commitment “to ensuring that global transportation routes and supply chains remain open, safe and secure, and that any restrictive measures related to COVID-19, including for air and sea crews, are targeted, proportionate, transparent, temporary and in accordance with obligations under international agreements.”

“We will continue to explore concrete ways to facilitate the movement of people in a way that does not impede our efforts to protect public health,” they added.

“We will continue our efforts in collaboration with stakeholders, including the private sector, to facilitate the travel and tourism sector's recovery from the pandemic. We welcome the Tourism Community Initiative as a catalyst of sector recovery, including the creative economy,” they continued.

“We endorse the G20 Guidelines for Inclusive Community Development through Tourism and encourage the use of the AlUla Framework for Inclusive Community Development Through Tourism that aim to create jobs, empower local communities, especially rural, safeguard the planet, and preserve cultural heritage. We also endorse the G20 Guidelines for Action on Safe and Seamless Travel and welcome the establishment of the G20 Tourism Working Group,” they declared.

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Saudi Arabia Makes History with Adoption of Riyadh Treaty on Design Law

Photo of the Riyadh Diplomatic Conference on the Design Law Treaty (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Photo of the Riyadh Diplomatic Conference on the Design Law Treaty (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Saudi Arabia Makes History with Adoption of Riyadh Treaty on Design Law

Photo of the Riyadh Diplomatic Conference on the Design Law Treaty (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Photo of the Riyadh Diplomatic Conference on the Design Law Treaty (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Saudi Arabia has made history by uniting the 193 member states of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) to adopt the Riyadh Treaty on Design Law. This landmark achievement, realized after two decades of deliberation, underscores the Kingdom’s leadership in enhancing the global intellectual property system.

The announcement came at the conclusion of the Riyadh Diplomatic Conference on the Design Law Treaty, a rare event for WIPO, which has not held a diplomatic conference outside Geneva for more than a decade. It was also the first such event hosted in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East, representing the final stage of negotiations to establish an agreement aimed at simplifying and standardizing design protection procedures across member states.

Over the past two weeks, intensive discussions and negotiations among member states culminated in the adoption of the Riyadh Treaty, which commits signatory nations to a unified set of requirements for registering designs, ensuring consistent and streamlined procedures worldwide. The agreement is expected to have a significant positive impact on designers, enabling them to protect their creations more effectively and uniformly across international markets.

At a press conference held on Friday to mark the event’s conclusion, CEO of the Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property Abdulaziz Al-Suwailem highlighted the economic potential of the new protocol.

Responding to a question from Asharq Al-Awsat, Al-Suwailem noted the substantial contributions of young Saudi men and women in creative design. He explained that the agreement will enable their designs to be formally protected, allowing them to enter markets as valuable, tradable assets.

He also emphasized the symbolic importance of naming the convention the Riyadh Treaty, stating that it reflects Saudi Arabia’s growing influence as a bridge between cultures and a global center for innovative initiatives.

The treaty lays critical legal foundations to support designers and drive innovation worldwide, aligning with Saudi Arabia’s vision of promoting international collaboration in the creative industries and underscoring its leadership in building a sustainable future for innovators.

The agreement also advances global efforts to enhance creativity, protect intellectual property, and stimulate innovation on a broader scale.

This achievement further strengthens Saudi Arabia’s position as a global hub for groundbreaking initiatives, demonstrating its commitment to nurturing creativity, safeguarding designers’ rights, and driving the development of creative industries on an international scale.

The Riyadh Diplomatic Conference, held from November 11 to 22, was hosted by the Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property and attracted high-ranking officials and decision-makers from WIPO member states.