By Mervat Abduldayem, Sara Safar
KUWAIT, Feb 16 (KUNA) -- Under the patronage of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, the 12th International Invention Fair in the Middle East kicked off on Sunday with the participation of 100 inventors from 41 countries.
Governor of the capital Sheikh Talal Al-Khaled Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah inaugurated the fair, organized by the Kuwait Science Club, earlier Sunday on behalf of His Highness the Amir.
In his speech at the opening ceremony, Sheikh Talal lauded the generous patronage of the His Highness the Amir to the fair, saying it had a great impact on its success.
This is clear from the large number participants in the fair from around, he said.
He expressed hope this fair would give impetus to scientific research in various fields.
He praised the role of the organizers of the fair and thanked them for their efforts to make the fair a real success for serving the nation.
In statement to reporters on the sidelines of the opening ceremony, Chairman of the organizer the Kuwait Science Club Talal Al-Kharafi, expressed his great thanks to His Highness the Amir for his patronage to the fair and his support for the inventors.
"Without the great support of His Highness the Amir, we would not have achieved this great success," Al-Kharafi said.
He stressed that the Kuwait Science Club is an incubator of talent people, as it guide them and harness their skills.
Al-Kharafi pointed out that a large number of inventors, international organizations, universities and research institutions are partaking in the four-day event.
"This gathering demonstrates the success of our goals in supporting inventors and is a source of pride as it is a result of great efforts made by the club members, associates and volunteers from sponsoring companies and civil society organization." In statements to KUNA on the sidelines of the event, a number of participants affirmed the importance of such scientific forums in spreading scientific culture and preparing new innovative and creative generation.
Director General of the Sabah Al-Ahmad Center for Giftedness and Creativity, an affiliate of the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences, Dr. Omar Al-Banai said that such an exhibition helps open horizons for Kuwaiti inventors and provides them with platform to present their inventions to investors.
It also helps promote creativity and encourage Kuwaitis to invent and share their inventions with the world, he added.
Al-Banai pointed out that there are ten Kuwaiti inventors participating in this edition of the fair.
The center has supported those inventors in line with its objective to spread the culture of creativity and innovation and to show the world inventions of Kuwaiti youth, he said.
He emphasized the importance of such scientific forums particularly for exchanging expertise. Al-Banai hailed His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, who is also chairman of the board of directors of the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Science, unlimited support for Kuwaiti talented people, creators and inventors to bring their innovations and creative ideas to light.
He stated that the Sabah Al-Ahmad Center for Giftedness and Creativity had presented great examples of Kuwaiti inventors, whose the center sponsor, to demonstrate the role of Kuwaiti talents in scientific and technological advancement and to reveal one of the aspects of comprehensive care that Kuwait offers to creative and young minds.
Al-Banai explained that a major goal of of the center's mission is to discover and nurture the distinguished, talented and creative people of Kuwait and provide them with supportive environment to employ their talents and creativity and help find appropriate opportunities to transform their ideas into concrete inventions.
For his part, Director General of the Patent Office of the Gulf Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, Abdullah Al-Mazrou expressed admiration of the fair, which is generously sponsored by His Highness the Amir.
He described the fair as one of the most important scientific forums in the field of patents and innovations in the world.
Al-Mazrou said that he participated several fair across the world and knew how people abroad talk about the Kuwait-organized fair.
This event had gained a fame worldwide and is attended by a group of inventors from the six Cooperation Council member states as per instructions from the GCC Secretary-General Dr. Nayef Al-Hajraf.
A total of 12 inventors and creators from the GCC states are partaking in the event with full support from the Patent Office in order to show their contributions and innovations, Al-Mazrou said.
He pointed out the gathering those inventors with a group of investors every year is a good opportunity to market their inventions.
The GCC official stated that the General Secretariat is sponsoring two inventors from each of member state to participate in the fair with the aim of motivating them to invent more and to provide them with an opportunity to meet investors and specialists to develop and market their inventions.
Al-Mazrou revealed that the GCC Patent Office offers three cash prizes to the best three GCC inventors at a total value of SR 50,000 (about USD 13,333 ) divided into three prizes the first prize SR 25,000 (roughly USD 6,665), the second prize SR 15,000 (some USD 4,000) and the third prize SR 10,000 (about USD 2,666).
He stated that this participation comes within the framework of the implementation of joint cooperation programs between the GCC Patent Office and patent offices in the GCC countries to spread innovation and invention among citizens and preserving intellectual property rights to contribute to a sustainable economic growth based on knowledge.
For his part, General Manager of Corporate Communications and Relations at Kuwait Telecommunication Company Zain, the main sponsor of the event, Waleed Al-Khashti said: "We are honored to be the main sponsor of the fair, which is developing year after year until it becomes the second largest exhibition of inventions in the world in terms of the number of participating countries." Al-Khashti noted that supporting inventors is part of Zain's strategy to support creativity and innovation and to help materialize the vision of His Highness the Amir of New Kuwait 2035, specifically investing in human resource to find new creative, productive, and competitive generation.
Meanwhile, Kuwaiti inventor, Mohamed Al-Ansari from the Faculty of Medicine at Kuwait University, said that he is participating in the fair- which lasts four days - for the first time with a new medicine to treat vitiligo.
"It is considered one of the best available treatments for this disease and a new way for curing it with great results," he told KUNA.
Al-Ansari thanked the Kuwait University for its support for inventions and scientific research to serve humanity. (end) mrf.ss.tb.ibi