Heba Mohsen
The Association for Small and Medium Enterprises Development, headed by Ahmed Al -Salloum, announced a strategic partnership with the Bahraini Association of Researchers and Inventors, with the aim of embracing Bahraini ideas and turning them into commercial projects that can be implemented.
Al -Salloum stressed, during his opening speech to the activities of the workshop “innovation and entrepreneurship: supporting young inventors towards achieving commercial success”, that this initiative represents an important start towards building an integrated system to support local innovation, indicating that Bahrain is full of talents and young energies that need only guidance and support to turn its ideas into tangible achievements.
Al -Salloum said: «We are proud of our success today in holding this partnership with the association, which includes a large number of inspiring ideas and developed inventions.
We believe that this partnership will enable us to transform these ideas into real projects that serve the Kingdom, and contribute to building an innovative future for their owners.
The partnership aims to enable the inventors to officially recording their ideas with the competent authorities such as the Ministry of Industry and Trade, and to protect them from the dangers of losing their intellectual rights.
The first phase will also include organizing training workshops that include the stages of recording the idea, marketing them, and searching for investment partners.
Al -Salloum pointed out that many young people hesitate to share their ideas for fear of losing their rights, stressing that this initiative aims to create a safe and stimulating environment that guarantees the owner of the idea his rights and his opportunity to convert them into a successful project.
He explained that the association is working in cooperation with its local and international investors to transform the best ideas into trading products and services, adding that the Bahraini innovation must bear the name of Bahrain, and contribute to enhancing the Kingdom’s position on the global innovation map.
He stressed that the Bahraini human element is a natural resource that is no less important than other resources, calling on all innovators and ideas owners to communicate with the Bahraini Association of researchers and inventors and engage in this initiative, which represents a starting point towards a Bahraini economy based on knowledge and innovation.
He pointed out that strengthening the culture of innovation and inventors greatly contributes to developing the business environment and enabling young entrepreneurs to achieve their goals, noting that the workshop is an opportunity to review inspiring experiences and discuss the challenges facing young inventors, and exchange knowledge and experiences between the participants to turn their ideas into successful projects.
For his part, the head of the patent and industrial designs department at the Ministry of Industry and Trade Nawaf Al -Majid stressed the importance of the role of intellectual property at the present time, which is no longer just a legal tool, but also a catalyst for innovation and creativity.
Al -Majid said: “Innovation and intellectual property play an important role in enabling us to achieve the goals of sustainable development and build a better and more sustainable future for all.”
The head of the patent and industrial designs department at the Ministry explained that intellectual property is established to build a commercial and economic base for entrepreneurs and secure an investment climate for major, medium and small companies.
In turn, the Chairman of the Scientific Research Committee at the Bahraini Association of Researchers and Inventors, Dr. Sulay Al -Thawadi, explained that innovation and entrepreneurship are the two main pillars to achieve a sustainable and varied economy, pointing at the same time until the empowerment of creative Bahraini minds and creating an incubator and stimulating environment for scientific research, invention and innovation is one of the most prominent goals of the association.
She emphasized that the association, since its inception, was keen to support Bahraini inventors and researchers and enable them to transform their ideas into commercial projects with a real impact.
Al -Thawadi indicated that the association provided real spaces and opportunities for Bahraini youth to display their inventions and research in scientific forums and exhibitions, as well as contributing to the perpetuation of inventors to prepare patents of patents, and linking them with partners from the industrial and investment sector to convert their ideas into projects that can be applicable in the market.
The President of the Bahraini Intellectual Property Association, Asma Al -Najdi, explained that supporting innovation and enhancing the culture of entrepreneurship between the ambitious youth category has become a priority to betting on building the future.
She pointed out that the association has made great steps in a short period of time, by achieving many achievements, the most recent of which was obtaining an observer status in the World Intellectual Property Organization, which is the culmination of the association’s efforts in the field of awareness and technical and legal support, and represents a responsibility to continue to work effectively on the international scene.
Al -Najdi pointed out that the association provided free consultations to more than 50 beneficiaries, and contributed to supporting the registration of their rights in various industrial and literary fields, as well as institutional partnerships with leading bodies such as the Royal Academy of Police, Open Prison Administration, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Information Affairs, the Ministry of Education, and Higher Education Institutions, as well as implementing educational field campaigns in Commercial complexes and government and private schools.
The sessions of the first day of the workshop began with a session entitled: “Introduction to Innovation and Investment”, presented by a member of the Bahraini Association for researchers and inventors and the founder of the Village of Inventions for Technical Design, Aref Al -Awadi, and dealt with the importance of innovation as main factors for business success in the need to invest in new ideas to advance economic development.
As for the session “Evaluating the idea and the study of feasibility”, presented by the founding partner of the Hab Bahrain Training Corporation, Issa Al -Dossary, and Al -Dosari reviewed how to evaluate innovative ideas through feasibility studies, which helps the inventors make enlightened decisions on their projects.
The first day sessions concluded with a session on “converting the idea into a product (primary models and manufacturing),” presented by a member of the Bahraini Association for researchers and inventors and founder of the company GOFAB3D Khaled Innner, where he talked about how to convert ideas into preliminary models, and the importance of manufacturing in making these ideas applicable in the market.
