Last Thursday, the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB), in cooperation with the Libyan Authority for Scientific Research, organised signed an MoU in Tripoli during workshop on ‘‘Inventors and Creators in Libya – Reality, Challenges, and Future Prospects’’. The aim of the workshop was to come up with strategies to support and develop invention and innovation practices in Libya, research centers, and institutions of higher education and scientific research in particular.
The workshop activities were attended by the Director General of the NESDB, Mahmoud Al-Futaisi, the Chairman of the Libyan Authority for Scientific Research, Faisal Al-Abdali, and several researchers, specialists, and faculty members at Libyan universities interested in entrepreneurship.
Supporting creativity a priority
In an exclusive interview with Libya Herald, the Director General of the Libyan Authority for Scientific Research, Faisal Al-Abdali, said, “Supporting entrepreneurship, creative ideas, and innovation, and encouraging inventors and creators, has become one of the priorities of the ambitious state.”
Improving life and facing challenges
Therefore, this workshop, he continued, comes within cooperation between the Libyan Authority for Scientific Research and the NESDB in order to support invention and innovation to contribute to improving life and facing challenges.
Offering solutions to societal problems
Inventors and creators represent the creative minds and the driving force behind offering solutions to the problems facing societies, Al-Abdali said, adding that Libya is rich in talent and creators. However, what this talent needs is support and refinement, and to encourage innovation and invention as main tools for promoting sustainable development in the country, as there is nothing in all countries of the world that is more important than cognitive capital.
To achieve sustainable development
Al-Abdali stressed that directing support from the government and the private sector to inventors and creators reflects the ambitious vision to achieve sustainable development and raise the quality of life in Libya. This workshop will shed light on the current reality of inventors and creators in our country, understand the challenges they face, and promote future approaches to enhance their capabilities and motivate them to innovate, he explained.
Joint PPP needed
He said the cooperation agreement between the Libyan Authority for Scientific Research and the NESDB aims to embrace business owners, entrepreneurial ideas, talented people and inventors, pay attention to them and present them to government institutions and the private sector so that they have a direct contribution to the development of the country. Al-Abdali said there is a need for talented people, innovators and entrepreneurship projects for concerted efforts between the two public and private sectors to support and encourage them and make optimal use of their talents.
