Saudi Arabia to be guest of honor at Beijing book fair

Saudi Arabia will be the guest of honor at the 20th Beijing International Book Fair (BIBF 2013) scheduled Aug. 28 to Sept. 2 in Beijing.
Minister of Higher Education Khaled Al-Anqari will head the Saudi delegation at the event, which will be attended by 2,010 exhibitors representing 58 countries.
Al-Anqari said that the selection of the Kingdom by the organizer to be the guest of honor is based on the Kingdom’s position at the Arab, Islamic and international levels and is a culmination of the efforts of the government of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques in supporting dialogue between cultures, religions and civilizations.
“The Kingdom’s keenness to join international book fairs comes from its belief that such events are a means of cultural and civilization contact among peoples and nations,” Al-Anqari said, adding that the Kingdom participates annually in more than 28 international book exhibitions.
He said that the Kingdom participated as a guest of honor at book fairs in Japan, Czech Republic, the Emirate of Sharjah, Morocco and Korea. “Its participation gave a positive impression about its local cultural scene,” he said.
According to the organizers, the Beijing International Book Fair is the biggest publishing industry event in the Asian market. This represents a huge market with tremendous opportunity considering that China is the most populous nation in the world.
The 20th BIBF 2013 will continue to run the Digital Publishing Zone and the Children’s Book, Cartoons & Animation Zone, the organizers said.