Sheikha Bodour Al Qasimi attends Frankfurt Book Fair

In addition to representing Kalimat and the EPA, she will be attending a number of conference sessions on topics relevant to the UAE and Arab publishing industries, including a conference that pertains to the 'Tools of Change' that will be held one day prior to the fair.

Speaking of her participation in this important industry event, Sheikha Bodour said, "The publishing industry is dynamic in nature, and events such as this offer an excellent opportunity for publishers in all areas and from all over the world to interact and discuss the issues facing the industry. This event provides us as Arab publishers with an excellent chance to expand our distribution channels, allowing our books to reach Arabic speakers all over the world."

She continued, "Attending such events also enables us to keep abreast of the latest trends, many of which at the moment relate to digitisation, which is becoming more and more prevalent in this multimedia era. Although this presents some challenges for traditional publishers, it also opens up a whole new avenue for publishers - particularly smaller ones - to reach a greater number of readers than ever before, and Arab publishers are looking at ways to take advantage of this trend," she added.

The Frankfurt Academy will once again be hosting a series of conference sessions, covering topics ranging from new forms of storytelling and story-selling, to metadata and rights management. For the duration of the fair, Sheikha Bodour will be attending a variety of conference sessions, meetings and workshops, making the most of the excellent networking opportunity offered by this international meeting place.

The Frankfurt International Book Fair is the world's largest meeting of the publishing industry, and this year is expecting to welcome around 7,500 exhibitors from 110 countries, as well as close to 300,000 visitors.

Open to trade visitors only for the first three days, the Fair is the meeting place for the industry's experts, with publishers, booksellers, agents, film producers and authors all coming together to discuss the issues facing the industry.

More than half of the roughly 1,100 industry events taking place this year will address aspects of digitisation.