Advisor to His Majesty opens Muscat International Book Fair

Muscat: Muscat International Book Fair was opened at Oman International Exhibition Centre on Wednesday under the patronage of Mohammed bin Al Zubair, Advisor to His Majesty the Sultan for Economic Planning Affairs. The exhibition will run until March 5.
The chief guest and the attendees toured the various pavilions and sections of the exhibition. They were briefed on various exhibited books and houses of publication taking part from the Sultanate of Oman and other countries.
More than 650 publishing houses from 27 Arab and foreign countries are taking part directly or through their agents at the fair. For the first time, publishing houses from Pakistan and the Italy are taking part.
The fair has two sections, the first one named “Al Farahidi,” which is dedicated to official agencies, Arab and foreign publishers displaying Arabic books.
“Ahmed Bin Majid” section is for the publishing houses displaying foreign, Arab and children’s books, as well as the fair’s associated events and activities.
The fair, which stretches over 8,550 square meters, houses 950 pavilions at the two sections.
The official participations stood at 44 from the Sultanate and abroad while the number of participating houses of publishing at the foreign book section stood at 33 representing GCC, Arab and foreign houses and libraries.
The number of book titles listed at the Fair’s website stands at 250,000 and is available at the search engine of the website. Among the programmes at the fair are cultural, intellectual, literary and art events organised, in collaboration with the Organising Committee of the 21st edition of Muscat International Book Fair, the Cultural Club, the Literary Forum, the Omani Journalists Association, libraries, National Youth Commission, National Human Rights Commission and the Sultan Qaboos College for Teaching Arabic to Non-Native Speakers.
The fair will remain open from 10.00 am to 10.00 pm everyday except for Friday, when it will open from 4.00 pm to 10.00 pm. Thursday; February 25, Monday; February 29 and Monday; March 2 will be dedicated only for students from 10.00 am to 4.00 pm. February 28, March 1 and March 3 will be dedicated for women and female students from 10.00 am to 4.00 pm.