Sharjah: Under the patronage and presence of Bodour Al Qasimi, President of the International
Publishers Association (IPA), the sixth edition of the two-day Arab Publishers Conference (APC)
kicked off on Wednesday at Expo Centre Sharjah coinciding with the opening of the 41st
Sharjah International Book Fair.
Organised by Emirates Publishers Association in partnership with Sharjah Book Authority, the
conference was held under the theme, ‘Arabic Content Creation and Post-Pandemic
Challenges’, and brought together distinguished local and regional personalities including Her
Excellency Noura Al Kaabi, UAE Minister of Culture and Youth; Mohamed Rashad, President of
the Arab Publishers Association (APA); and Ali bin Tamim, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Arabic
Language Centre, in the presence of HE Ahmed bin Rakkad Al Ameri, Chairman of Sharjah
Book Authority (SBA), representatives from the League of Arab States as well as 35 publishers
and speakers.
In her keynote speech, Bodour Al Qasimi shared three lessons learnt during her tenure as
President of IPA when she visited book fairs in the region and around the world and met with
publishers associations from over 25 countries. She said these lessons include the necessity of
working and communicating with the global publishing sector, strengthening bilateral regional
cooperation between publishers, in addition to promoting policies of diversity and inclusion to
achieve positive change.
The IPA President said: “The global publishing sector is currently witnessing rapid and
transformative developments. This requires Arab publishers to keep themselves up-to-date
through continuous and active engagements with regional and international publishers,
institutions, and organisations if they must remain an important partner in international
deliberation on the realities and future of the publishing sector.”
Bodour Al Qasimi added: “The major success stories in the publishing industry are the outcome
of effective bilateral regional cooperation between publishers in the same geographic region,
especially those that share a similar language or cultural values. Arab publishers should
strengthen regional cooperation to utilise shared resources to reach more readers around the
world, and boost growth opportunities.”
UAE’s comprehensive support for the publishing ecosystem
For her part, HE Noura Al Kaabi, Minister of Culture and Youth, asserted the importance of
convening APC alongside SIBF 2022, pointing out that the book fair is one of the major Arab
and international cultural events and has a positive impact on the Arab publishing ecosystem.
The Minister said that this reflects the growth of the UAE’s publishing sector and the
corresponding increase in demand for investments in the book industry which is the result of the
milestones and successes achieved by the UAE over the past years in organising exhibitions,
launching literary awards, providing incentives and introducing legislation that protects and
safeguards rights of publishers and authors and supports the development of the publishing
sector ecosystem, locally and regionally.
Culture brings Arabs together
In a recorded message, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Secretary-General of the Arab League,
emphasised that the league considers culture as a bridge between Arab countries, adding that
culture is a strong and everlasting bond as it is based on the Arabic language used by Arabs to
read and create academic and creative content.
The Secretary-General praised the growing segment of readers in the Arab world due to the
launch of strong and successful reading initiatives, especially by the UAE. He urged Arab
governments to continue their support for the publishing industry due to its vital societal and
cultural role.
Sharjah, a city of arts and culture
For his part, Mohamed Rashad, President of the Arab Publishers Association, lauded the
patronage and support of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohammed AlQasimi, Supreme
Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, for the publishing industry. Rashad pointed out that the
Sharjah Ruler has sponsored the participation of Arab Publishers Union in international
exhibitions in Frankfurt, London, Paris and Bologna.
Iman Ben Chaibah, Vice-President of EPA, pointed out that APC aims to deliberate strategies
to accelerate the creation of tools and solutions to reach a wider network of readers and meet
the demands of various segments of society. The EPA Vice President added this was essential
especially for students and scholars due to the increased adoption of remote learning, which
makes Arabic content creation and development a key priority.
Day 1 sessions
Day 1 of the Arab Publishers Conference included four sessions and opened with a discussion
titled ‘Book Fairs during the Era of Digitisation’. Panel members on the session included HE Dr.
Ali Bin Tamim, Chairman of Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre; Iman Ben Chaibah, Vice
President of EPA ; Dr. Jamal Yahyaoui, Director of the National Book Center and Head of the
Historical Archives and Documents Office in Algeria; Dr. Shukri Al Mabkhout, author and
academic critic from Tunisia; and Ali Abd El-Moneim, Publishing and Partnerships Consultant
for Egypt.
The other sessions included: ‘Digitisation Impact on Copyrights During the Pandemic:
Challenges and Opportunities’, ‘Developing Publishers and Publishing Industry and Addressing
the Evident Skills Gap’, and ‘Post-pandemic Marketing Opportunities for the Arabic Book’.