Riyadh book fair reflects citizens’ cultural awareness, say experts

RIYADH: The Riyadh International Book Fair (RIBF) reflects the cultural awareness of Saudi citizens, according to Abdullah Al-Hussein, president of the Saudi Press Agency (SPA).
The RIBF this year comes with a new look and is in accordance with Saudi Vision 2030, he said. The current session of the RIBF combines many initiatives and events, the SPA chief added.
Referring to Malaysia, the guest of honor, Al-Hussein said it is a deeply rooted Islamic country whose people love the Kingdom and remain friends to the Saudi people.
The head of the Culture and Arts Association in Baha region, Ali Al-Bidhani, said the Riyadh book fair represents a cultural event for all Arab countries on poetry, arts and cultures.
The event reflects the cultural awareness enjoyed by Saudi citizens and their love of books, he said.
Those who visit the fair, he said, will find books of their choice — whether in literature, arts or culture — at the fair where more than 550 publishing houses are participating.
The number of GCC publishing houses joining the fair is 224 — or 40.7 percent of the total participants.
Saudi publishing houses participating in the fair numbered 167, followed by the UAE (24), Kuwait (23), Oman (4) and Qatar and Bahrain (3 each).
Several owners of the publishing houses coming from the GCC countries said that the ongoing fair has witnessed many innovations in terms of the event and exhibitors, e-books, the number of publishing houses, and writers and intellectuals hosted by the event.
The Malaysian pavilion discussed a book, titled “Shariah Minds in Islamic Finance,” written by Dr. Mohammed Daud Bakr, the head of the Shariah board at the Malaysian Central Bank.
The book, originally written in English — not yet translated into Arabic — defines the role of Shariah scholars in the Islamic economy and explores criteria and regulations of auditing bodies for Islamic control boards.
The book fair — which was inaugurated on March 8 — runs through March 18.