After another successful year of creating new relationships and building on long-term collaborations, Sharjah—the crown in the Arab book world—is back with the 42nd annual edition of one of the world’s most anticipated events of the year, the Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF). We are also back, of course, with this Publishers Conference, which has, for many years now, been playing a significant global role in boosting industry knowledge and interconnectedness, in addition to being an axis in the encouragement of networking and cultural exchange. [related]
I extend a warm welcome to all you champions of knowledge, education and literary culture—both longstanding and new friends and like-minded colleagues—to the 13th annual iteration of the Publishers Conference, which, along with SIBF, is held under the generous patronage of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council of the United Arab Emirates and the Ruler of Sharjah.
As always, I look forward to hearing about the innovations and achievements of the past year, as well as the challenges we face together, with the common goal of creating solutions and ensuring that our industry continues to thrive. I am also excited about the rights that will be acquired and sold and the new partnerships that will be formed, especially in the field of translation which our Translation Grant Scheme has so ably supported.
Thanks to your insightful participation, our conference and book fair have attracted large numbers of publishers and agents in the last couple of years, making SIBF the world’s largest publishing event in 2021 and 2022. Last year, more than 2,213 publishers from 95 countries came together to shine light on their individual challenges and discuss future opportunities.
I hope that, this year, we can continue to work together and build on this success, promoting cultural appreciation and understanding through love of the written word, enabling indigenous literary voices to join the mainstream, and making publishing the most diverse and inclusive market sector to have ever existed.
As revealed in a recent study by Sharjah Book Authority (SBA)’s flagship initiative, Sharjah Publishing City (SPC) Freezone, the U.A.E.’s publishing sector is expected to grow from U.S. $260 to U.S. $650 million by 2030. This is a quantum leap by any measure and one that I am delighted to play a small part in achieving.
It is my pleasure, honour and privilege to invite you all—existing partners and collaborators and first timers! - to join us and to enjoy and exploit the incredible cultural and commercial opportunities that lie ahead, while driving sustainable and positive social impact through our incredible industry.
I wish you all a fulfilling participation in this conference and in SIBF 2023, which opens its doors to the world on November 1.
His Excellency Ahmed bin Rakkad Al Ameri is chief executive officer of the Sharjah Book Authority.
