Cairo kicks off book fair highlighting culture and renovation

The 46th annual Cairo International Book Fair kicked off Wednesday for visitors at Cairo's fairgrounds center.

The fair, dubbed Culture and Renovation, was inaugurated by Egyptian Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb and Minister of Culture Gaber Asfour.

The fair, the biggest and the oldest in the Arab world, is organized by the General Egyptian Book Organization (GEBO) and will last until Feb. 12.

Culture Minister Asfour told Xinhua that the fair will echo the cultural approach to counter terrorism in addition to being an important enlightening event in terms of reading culture.

"We are going to fight terrorism by the power of science, knowledge and books," he stressed.

The minister added that the fair hosts more than 27 countries and 850 publishers, including 550 from Egypt, 250 Arab and 50 non-Arab publishers, with kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) as the guest of honor for this year's fair.

The honorary character of this year's book fair is Mohammed Abduh (1849 -1905), an Egyptian reformist religious scholar who has enriched the Egyptian social, cultural and religious fields with his works.

Meanwhile, the GEBO announced some 70,000 books, and 740 publications will be showcased at the fair.

The fair, for the first time since it was launched, was opened to the public on the opening day. In previous sessions, opening day's presence was only allowed for local and foreign officials and figures.

Away from the cultural benefit, the fair is a good chance for local publishers to sell their publications amid deterioration situation caused by four years of political and security instability following the two popular uprisings that unseated two presidents.

Al-Ahram publish house, the largest in Egypt, has always participated in every session of the book fair. This year, the notable Egyptian publisher showcases more than 10,000 books and publications books that tackle all walks of life in five halls at the fair.

The agency's marketing director, Magdy Ibrahim, believes that this year's fair is going to be more successful than the previous ones.

"Many people from other countries have come to Egypt just to buy books. Those suffer from political and military conflicts in their countries such as Syria, Palestine and Yemen, but they came to satisfy their eagerness to have books," Magdy told Xinhua.

The GEBO cancelled the book fair launching celebrations after the death of KSA's King Abdullah who passed away on Friday.

Launched for the first time in 1969, the Cairo International Book Fair is considered the most important event in the Arabic publishing world, drawing hundreds of book sellers from around the globe and about two million visitors each year. Endit