Over 650 publishing houses from 30 countries are participating in the 10-day Riyadh International Book Fair starting here Tuesday. On behalf of King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, Dr. Abdul Aziz Khoja, Minister of Culture and Information, will inaugurate the fair in which over 250,000 books in Arabic, English and French will be on display. The event will also host a wide range of cultural activities with Senegal as the guest of honor. This year the book fair will witness the participation of publishing houses from Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, other Arab countries, the USA, Britain, France, Sweden, Cyprus, Germany, India, Japan, Turkey and Iran. Several criteria were taken into consideration in accepting the participation of publishing houses. These include the number of publications, date of publication, subjects, specialization and the status of the publishing house in cultural circles. Starting from Wednesday, the book fair will be open to all visitors from 10 A.M. until 10 P.M. with morning and evening sessions, except for Friday, Sunday and Tuesday when the evening sessions are reserved for men only. Abdullah Al-Jassir, Undersecretary at the Ministry of Culture and Information, said that all preparations were in place for the launch of the fair. “We've been working as part of a team from government and non-government bodies to make this an impressive event reflecting the Kingdom's cultural progress, and not just a place to buy and sell books. It should be a cultural forum that reflects the cultural growth of the Kingdom,” said Al-Jassir, who is also the Supervisor General of the fair. Al-Jassir said the cultural program for this year will take into consideration maintaining balance and diversity. It will include an evening on national dialogue in the Kingdom and its role in boosting the concepts of moderation and tolerance.
