Riyadh International Book Fair 2017 begins Wednesday

The exhibition this year will witness a strong presence of foreign publishing houses. (SPA)

RIYADH: The Riyadh International Book Fair, the most awaited literary event in the capital, opens here Wednesday with the aim of facilitating and promoting exchanges between authors, publishers, those professionally concerned with books, and those who love reading.
The annual fair will be held under the patronage of King Salman, and is organized by the Ministry of Culture and Information (MoCI) at the Riyadh International Convention and Exhibition Center (RICEC) from March 8-18.
It is set to provide a cultural bridge between the Arab and wider worlds, and a networking platform for publishers, writers, scholars and academic institutions.
Culture and Information Minister Adel Al-Toraifi thanked King Salman for patronizing the 10-day fair.
The important cultural event, which attracts thousands of visitors daily, is set to witness the participation of as many as 550 local, Arab and international publishing houses, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported on Monday.
MoCI official Abdul Rahman Al-Assem said: “The exhibition this year will witness a strong presence of foreign publishing houses, which shows its importance and places it on the map of world exhibitions.”
The fair this year involves more publishing houses but fewer government authorities and corporations, he added.
“We have laid plans to evaluate the publishing houses that participate based on strict standards like sold books and the number of visitors frequenting them,” said Al-Assem, a member of the organizing committee. “These will be evaluated to see the extent of their participation in the coming years.”
Malaysia is the guest-of-honor country at this year’s event, which will have a diverse program and activities targeting different categories of visitors, including children and youths.
Al-Toraifi said: “Choosing Malaysia as the guest of honor is consistent with the distinctive ties between the two countries in political, economic, cultural and tourism fields.”
The book fair, which started over a decade ago, displays many books on Islam, Arab culture, history, medicine, law, science, technology, mass media and communication, a well as biographical accounts, fiction and novels available in popular languages including Arabic, English, French, Turkish, Urdu and Spanish.