Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation to participate in Frankfurt Book Fair 2008

The announcement was made by Yasser Hareb, Vice President for Culture, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation, while addressing a large gathering of Arab, German and international media persons at the Berlin International Literary Festival 2008. The event was attended by His Excellency Mohammed Ahmed Al Mahmoud, UAE ambassador to Germany.

More than 100 world renowned poets and authors are participating at the eighth edition of the Berlin event that opened on 24 September and runs until 4 October. Numerous international authors and poets have demonstrated significant enthusiasm in the Foundation's literary programmes and cultural activities presented at the festival.

The Foundation also hosted a gala dinner to more than 150 renowned literary personalities with a view to encouraging and strengthening Arab-European cultural dialogue.

Yasser Hareb highlighted the Foundation's objectives inspired by the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai towards enhancing the Arab world's knowledge capabilities, promoting quality intellectual output in the region and encouraging inter-cultural dialogue.

Hareb said:

"International participations are crucial elements in our multi-tier strategy, particularly in exploring and promoting cooperation with thought leaders and literary personalities from across the globe. With over 7,000 publishers and tens of thousands of visitors, the Frankfurt Book Fair represents an important platform to promote Arabic culture and interact with leading cultural organisations from various parts of the world."

"At the Frankfurt fair, the Foundation will co-organise a series of seminars and round-table discussions focused on promoting cultural cooperation between the west and the Arab world," he added.

"Through our participation at the Berlin festival and through hosting the gala dinner, we aim to interact with renowned and emerging poets and authors of diverse culture. Our objective is to increase international interest in the Arab literary production and enhance awareness of the rich diversity of our culture," Hareb concluded.

The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation has launched a series of strategic programmes to encourage aspiring Arab writers to publish their creative works and promote quality translation to accelerate knowledge transfer to the Arab world.