CAIRO: Abu Dhabi has embarked on an ambitious plan to seize the title as the Middle East’s regional economic and cultural hub by moving away from a resource dependent economy, Wayne Borg, Chief Operating Officer of twofour54, told Daily News Egypt in an exclusive one-on-one interview in Cairo.
“Currently, 50 percent of the economy is based on energy resources,” Borg indicated.
“Abu Dhabi wants to become a ‘thinking’ capital, with a strong focus on entrepreneurship,” Borg highlighted.
Yet, to truly diversify an economy, “a strong cultural underpinning is primordial,” Borg explained.
Target 2030
In 2005, the UAE capital laid out a plan called “2030”, the date by which it seeks to have fully diversified its economy through attracting divergent forms of business, in particular the media and entertainment content creation industry, Borg said.
Health care and IT have been targeted; Cornell University, the Sorbonne, MIT, ADM for microchips and Airbus have already setup shop in the capital.
The Louvre and the Guggenheim have established branches in Abu Dhabi to help ramp up the city’s cultural allure.
As part of the 2030 plan, twofour54 — a government-backed initiative that derived its name from the geographical location — will be one of the city’s principle avenues through which it would achieve its cultural aspirations.
The center, which kicked off operations in 2009, consists of four distinct, yet crosscutting pillars, Borg explained.
The first of the four is a media-focused vocational training academy; followed by a funding and support arm, ranging from $0.5 million to $5 million in the form of venture capital; next, production and post-production facilities; and to create a synergy amongst the three pillars, the center offers shared services and property management department.
Through the organization’s four-pillar structure, “the objective is to skill and re-skill people for jobs in the media and entertainment industries, and create original Arabic content for the region,” said Borg.
“The region desperately lacks a focal point where creation is the focus, which can be found in other places, such as Los Angeles or London,” Borg stated.
In just 18 months, the center has already lined up 85 partner companies, such as the BBC, CNN, Turner, Thompson Foundation, HarperCollins and Financial Times to name a few of the big players, and by the end of 2010 another 25 will jump on board, Borg said.
Borg is confident that the center will realize its ambitions, not only owing to the “high caliber” of its partners, but also due to the size of the market on which it is attempting to capitalize.
“There are 340 million consumers in the Arab world — roughly the equivalent of the United States. Many are around 25-years-old. Little creative content exists for the market, and there is no reason that this region should not have its own original content to satisfy its needs,” Borg said.
“Arabic is the fifth largest language in the world, but only represents 1 percent of content online,” he continued.
“This is a huge, untapped market on a regional scale similar to Asia.”
Hurtles down the road
Borg and his team are, nonetheless, cognizant of potential impasses present in the Middle East market.
Consumers in the region are culturally diverse and not nearly as homogenous as in other markets like the US, making it more difficult to penetrate. But, as he explained, this issue will be “targeted thematically”.
When asked whether the protection of intellectual property rights was an issue with which the center is concerned, Borg riposted that indeed it is, and that, in fact, the center is working closely with the government to ensure that a proper regulatory framework is established to protect creative content.
“This will help draw artists to twofour54, as they are feeling the financial heat lost to piracy,” Borg noted.
He stressed that this is a serious issue, as piracy of creative content is rife in the region.
The situation, he stated, is not sustainable: artists will have to be properly remunerated for their work. “Otherwise they won’t be able to continue creating content that everyone enjoys.”
Build it & they’ll come
Just after opening its doors to eager, young aspiring professionals last year, the center welcomed 1,800 delegates, which included several Egyptians.
The ‘build it and they will come’ approach that Abu Dhabi has embraced, which Borg cited, has already demonstrated positive results.
“We are at 75 percent capacity, and we anticipate that we will hit 100 percent by 2011,” he stated.
Borg explained that the center will be moving to a new facility on the water front soon, which will have 600,000 square meters at its disposal, with 18 studios to boot.
Branching out further into the Middle East, such as Cairo, Borg said, through a system of satellites has not been excluded.
“It all depends on the success of the initiative,” he said cheerfully.
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In addition to media-focused vocational training and funding, twofour54 also offers production and post-production facilities.
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