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Sharjah book fair ends

SHARJAH — His Highness Dr Shaikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Member of Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, in his statement on the closure ceremony of the 30th Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF) stressed that the Emirate of Sharjah will continue the development of its distinctive cultural projects.

The book fair this year attracted 900 publishers representing 50 countries. The events and more than 30,000 book titles attracted huge crowd during the ten days of the book fair. “If we have been successful in the 30^th edition of the SIBF, we promise you to be much better in the coming year,” Shaikh Sultan said.

“This success will be a great motive towards more hard work to achieve the goals in order to upgrade the Arab and Islamic culture to international standards,” he said, adding that Sharjah will further enhance its annual cultural activities and events, including the Sharjah International Book Fair, in the coming years.

In a reply to what was published by some local newspapers about the opinions and suggestions made by a number of critics, poets, writers and intellectuals, Shaikh Sultan said: “We at the SIBF do not seek the quantum of what we offer in terms of cultural programmes, but we are keen to varieties in all programmes that do not oppose each other in principle. We work hard to have our cultural programme to serve different segments of intellectuals. The overwhelming response received by the various cultural programs at the SIBF is evidence and proof of its success which, for us, is an impetus towards further development in future edition.”

Dr Shaikh Sultan said the large number of participating publishers would enhance competition among the various publishing houses to participate, and it supports the amount of titles on offer and its cultural diversity and quality for the interest of the reader. About suggestion and recommendation addressed to attract students of the University City of Sharjah to volunteer to get involved in the SIBF by attending seminars, conventions, cultural and various other events, the SIBF this year has included more than 100 student-volunteers and fresh graduates, who had an active presence in all the days of the SIBF, stressing the keenness of participation of university students in all cultural activities and events in Sharjah.

Dr Shaikh Sultan welcomed the proposal of organising an annual meeting in which he can meet with all Emirati authors, saying “I will be very keen in the coming days to meet with them to come out with new cultural visions for the development of the cultural scene in the UAE. This is in any way part of Sharjah cultural strategy. The holding of this will be continued to make Sharjah remain a beacon of culture in the region. The development of culture will not be achieved without listening to the views of all segments, including writers and intellectuals.”

At the conclusion of his remarks, the Ruler of Sharjah expressed pleasure with the great success achieved by the book fair. — afkarali@khaleejtimes.com

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