Arab publishers at Frankfurt Book Fair 2008

The call was made at an open forum organised by the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation on the third day of its debut participation at the Frankfurt Book Fair 2008, the world's largest trade fair for books, which drew to a successful close on 19 October.

The well-attended event was led by Yasser Hareb, Acting CEO, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation; Ali Al-Shaali, Director of Publishing, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation; and Jamal Al-Shehhi, Director of Culture at the Foundation.

The interactive forum drew a significant number of perspectives from Arab publishers including Dr. Mohammed Abdel Latif Talaat, head of the Arab Publishers' Association and Board Chairman of Safeer Company (a publisher, advertiser and information provider); Bashar Shbaro, Secretary-General of the Arab Publishers' Association and General Manager of Al-Dar Al-Arabia Lil-Ouloum Wal Nashr; and Mohammed Al-Hassan Mohammed Abbas, Secretary General of the Sudanese Publishers' Association.

Ahmad Fahd Al-Hamdan, head of the Saudi Publishers' Association and General Manager of Al-Rushd Bookstore; Nasser Jarous, General Manager of Jarous Press and representative of Reed Exhibitions Middle East FZ-LLC; Imad Azali, General Manager of Maison Mediterranee; Mohammed Rashad, General Manager of the Egyptian-Lebanese Publishing House; Daou Tibar, head of the Libyan Publishers' Association, were among those that attended the event.

The open forum highlighted topical issues pertaining to the current state and future prospects of the publishing industry in the Arab world.

Participants put forward a number of ideas to overcome the current challenges facing the industry, with distribution hurdles featuring as a topmost concern.

While many participants urged the need to learn from experiences of advanced countries in the domain of distribution, an idea was mooted to disconnect publishing from distribution in the region to ensure the seamless supply of books to end-users in all Arab countries.

Recognising the critical aspect of the issue, the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation recommended the launch of a comprehensive study to evaluate the distribution network in the Arab world for identifying current obstacles and exploring long term solutions.

Delegation members of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation to the 60th edition of the Frankfurt Book Fair simultaneously rolled out an activity packed cultural agenda, marking a significant presence among the 7,000 exhibitors from 101 countries that participated in the world's largest book fair.

On 18 October, the Foundation hosted German writer Adolf Muschg and German poet and author Joachim Sartorius as part of its endeavour to consolidate intellectual and cultural ties between the Arab world and the West.

During his visit to the Foundation's pavilion at the fair, Muschg signed the first Arabic edition of his novels (including the novel Love Stories) printed by the Foundation in association with the East-West Divan, a Berlin-based non-profit organization.

In turn, Joachim Sartorius signed the Arabic edition of his book Alexandria Fata Morgana.

The book was translated into Arabic and printed by the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation under its ambitious Tarjem programme, which aims to translate 1,000 books within three years.

The two authors - Muschg and Sartorius - commended the role played by the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation in building new bridges between the Arab and other civilizations, and expressed their keenness to cooperate with the Foundation's noble objectives and meritorious initiatives.

Author Sartorius lauded the Foundation's visionary goals that were successfully depicted at the Frankfurt Book Fair 2008.

He said: "Dubai is known on the world map as a key economic hub. Today, the Foundation has proved by virtue of its initiative that Dubai has the capacity and the wherewithal to become a paramount cultural centre."

Yasser Hareb, Acting CEO at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation, said the Foundation's first participation in the Frankfurt Book Fair succeeded in drawing significant interest and appreciation from authors, publishers and publishing industry professionals, as well as the general public at large.

Emphasising the importance of Arab participation in such global events, he hoped that the Frankfurt Book Fair will in the future witness an enhanced Arab presence.

"The Foundation is keen to play an effective role in exploring and energizing the channels of dialogue for establishing intellectual and cultural interaction between the Arabs and other cultures. Such events offer an ideal platform to realize this objective," he added.

Through hosting key cultural meetings and panel discussions with leading German and Arab authors, the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has left an indelible imprint on the global publishing industry landscape.