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UAE, an aspiring knowledge economy, shouldn't tax books

A good book opens up a world of knowledge. The more one reads, the more one learns, supplements his or her intelligence and strengthens brainpower. This is precisely the reason why governments the world over are encouraging good reading habits among their people. Leaders, in fact, also wield their influence through policies to encourage more people to buy books and read them.
However, in the UAE, we have been caught in a dichotomy of sorts. We are a country that celebrates reading nationally and several initiatives of the government are targeted at making reading more popular. Yet, we have included books (non-academic ones) under the ambit of goods attracting the value added tax. Why?
This tax is in contrast to the nation's plans to make reading a widespread activity, a way of life in the UAE. In the last few years, the leadership in the UAE has taken some extraordinary steps to encourage people to read more. In 2016, it dedicated the entire year to reading, an initiative that prodded academic institutions and people from all walks of life to take part in reading activities and to make it a daily habit. The government has also being leading the way by distributing books for free to let residents enjoy the company of the printed word. The civil society has responded enthusiastically, too. Reading challenges are becoming a frequent feature in the calendar of events at schools to ensure the young particularly develop a habit and prefer the company of books.
In 2016, the government also introduced a 10-year plan to support reading habit and it plans to spend about Dh100 million over the decade for this cause. The strategy includes dedicating the month of March every year to reading. "There is no knowledge economy without knowledge societies," said His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
Moreover, the UAE has spent millions of dirhams to build public libraries and stock them with a wealth of resources. The emirates has also succeeded in turning annual book fairs into major crowd-pullers. The emirate of Sharjah, in fact, is the third largest book fair in the world and its organisers are often invited as guests of honour to international editions.
Arguably, Sharjah has been at the forefront of continually investing in building individuals, both academically and culturally, and has ensured that knowledge through books are at the heart of its plans. The emirate ensures easy availability of books to people at a minimal and, often, free of charge. Its Knowledge without Borders (KwB) project, which was launched under the directives of His Highness Dr Sheikh Sultan bin Mohamed Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, and the supervision of Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi, has set up 42,000 home libraries each containing 50 books for Emirati families.
The idea is to strengthen the bond between citizens and books.
The emirate recognises that easy availability of books is crucial to helping people cultivate the habit of daily reading. So Sharjah, through its many projects, has made access to books on varied subjects easy. People have a choice of books on science, culture, fiction and non-fiction, technology, history, archaeology, nutrition, cooking, poetry and education, all for free.
Another initiative by KwB this year has been the 'Take a Book, Leave a Book' drive. Pop-up libraries in various areas of the emirate encourage visitors to take a book from boxes and exchange it with another, again for free.
These are monumental steps that are raising awareness, and helping build a strong community culture. Therefore, it is counterproductive to levy VAT on books, and does not bode well with the nation's vision and policies.
It is time the Ministry of Culture and Community Development, the Ministry of Happiness, and intellectuals stepped in to review this tax on books and maybe put a stop to it. The UAE is well on the path to becoming a knowledge hub. It has gained the trust of other countries in the region and is becoming a preferred destination regionally for publishers and publishing houses. VAT on books could erode the gain made, or hinder the way forward.
The book fair season is soon approaching with the new editions of The Big Bad Wolf Book Fair and the Sharjah Book Fair. It would be embarrassing to see books getting taxed at these fairs, which is visited by hundreds of publishers, and thousands of book enthusiasts and readers. Comparatively, such tax is fairly uncommon in other developed countries.
The UAE has become a hub of peace, knowledge and contemplation, especially for Arabs, who want to build a modern and knowledge-based edifice for their societies, away from ideological wars and extremism. And company of good books can ensure our success.
Therefore, we should not fail to make amends on this front as the UAE would be among the very few countries that collect tax for knowledge. For a country that has surmounted all hurdles to become a minaret of hope, and envisions freedom of knowledge, the authorities should consider changing its stand on VAT on books.
-malzarooni@khaleejtimes.com