Ashraf Abo Arafe
Alarge number of Egyptian publishing houses and libraries are participating in the 24th edition of the Muscat International Book Fair 2019, starting from February 21 and continuing until March 2, while the official opening ceremony will be held on the evening of 20th February.
Egypt will be present strongly. The pavilions of the publishing houses represented by thousands of the most important works published in Cairo and Alexandria, as well as a large selection of publications of Omani, Arab and international printing presses, have been allocated major sites and large areas in the most important halls for Egyptian publications.
As part of the final preparations, Dr. Abdul Moneim bin Mansour Al Hosni, Minister of Information and Chairman of the Muscat International Book Fair, held a press conference on the activities of the 24th session. This is in addition to the programs that will be launched including family and child activities and community initiatives. The event will start on February 21 until the second of next March, while the official opening ceremony will be held on the evening of 20 February.
The exhibition has been recognized as one of the top three exhibitions in the GCC region and ranked second in the Arab world as one of the best exhibitions in terms of purchasing power and public demand. In terms of the quality of activities and events directed to the segments of society, specifically programs of the family and children.
Dr. Abdul Moneim bin Mansour Al Hosni announced that the number of publishing houses that will participate in this year’s session is 882 from 30 countries, pointing out that there are countries that will participate for the first time, namely China, Bulgaria, Canada and Sri Lanka.
The pavilions will comprise about 523,000 titles, 35% of which are recent editions. He pointed out that the management of the exhibition decided to move from the hospitality of Omani cities to the hospitality of the provinces. Al Buraimi will be the guest of honor this year, and a cultural, intellectual and artistic program has been prepared to be implemented throughout the exhibition.
About the new additions during this session, he said, four halls have been dedicated to the events, and an expanded corner for cultural programs and activities of the child.
A corner for cultural initiatives has been allocated in a number of pavilions. There is participation of the relevant parties in the publishing and publishing of the book, where halls will be reserved for the authors to sign their publications and conclude production and publishing contracts.
It was also decided to expand the Media Center and provide it with information capabilities and capacities to serve as an information window for the exhibition to the world. The Jalis Media Center has been expanded to include the Child’s Child Team, adding that more than 25 Arab and international organizations are participating in the event. He pointed out in his speech that there is an electronic application along with the website will be launched with the opening in order to facilitate those who want to obtain information about its contents.
He said that the exhibition celebrates the community initiatives annually and there is a team headed by the President of the Sultan Qaboos University for this purpose, where more than 20 initiatives are being held and the winner of the best initiatives award will be announced.
“We have begun to promote the principle of volunteering at the Muscat International Book Fair in its 24th edition and 24 volunteers will be present to provide guidance and assistance to its visitors.
