Baghdad Under the patronage of Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz, the Riyadh International Book Fair will be launched on the first of next month, with the participation of the most important publishing houses from different countries of the world.

The Saudi Minister of Culture, Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan, had announced that Iraq would be the guest of honor for the exhibition.

Prince bin Farhan said, “the choice of Iraq comes in the context of the brotherly relations that bring together the two brotherly Saudi and Iraqi peoples, and within the framework of joint efforts by the two countries to enhance cooperation in all development fields, including the cultural field.

The Saudi Minister praised the Iraqi culture, its depth and diversity, “which will enrich the exhibition’s activities in its next session,” explaining that choosing Iraq will contribute to creating a large interactive space between the Saudi public and Iraqi intellectuals and their intellectual and creative production.

The new session of the Riyadh International Book Fair, which is supervised by the Literature, Publishing and Translation Authority, will witness a significant expansion in its various activities and events. It represents 16 cultural sectors.

The Minister of Culture, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Literature, Publishing and Translation Authority, explained that the sectors of books, publishing, language, translation and literature enjoy great support from the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and the Crown Prince.

The Minister considered the exhibition an important cultural event in the book and publishing industry, as a window of knowledge, highlighting Saudi creative production and stimulating cultural participation and commercial cooperation, so that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia becomes a global gateway to the publishing sector.

On the sidelines of the exhibition, which will run until October 10, the Literature, Publishing and Translation Authority will organize a conference for publishers on October 4-5, as the first conference of its kind in the Kingdom work in the field of publishing, in addition to various sessions dealing with the process of transferring rights and translation and its opportunities.

The exhibition will host many diverse cultural and literary seminars, poetry and art evenings, and provide spaces for dialogue, interactive lectures, and various workshops in the fields of art, reading, writing, publishing, book making, and translation

Source: National Iraqi News Agency