The first Saudi Publisher Fair kicked off here on Sunday with about 150 Saudi publishing houses displaying their latest intellectual and literary products. The 12-day fair, as part of the ongoing Jeddah Ghair Festival, at Al-Harthi Center for Conferences and Exhibitions was inaugurated by Prince Misha'l Bin Majed, Governor of Jeddah. “The idea of having this fair during summer vacation is to show that vacation period is not only meant for entertainment,” said Prince Misha'l. “It is also an opportunity to increase people's knowledge,” he added. Jeddah, the governor said, is not only an entertainment destination; it is a city of culture, literature and sciences. He also encouraged residents and visitors to Jeddah visit the fair and make it a huge success. The fair is a brainchild of Prince Misha'l who wanted to give saudi publishers an opportunity to showcase their products and make a strong presence in the market. The fair offers an opportunity to the youth to select the books they want to read all under one roof. Dr. Abdullah Bin Mahfouz, Deputy Chairman of Jeddah Chamber for Commerce and Industry, said that JCCI has encouraged Saudi publishers to participate in the fair by offering them a lower rental for the stalls at Al-Harthi Center. SR300 per meter space has been made available to them as against the normal charges of SR400, he said. He said that it was good to see libraries from various universities putting up their stalls in the fair along with their cultural clubs. “It means the government sectors have taken the first step to encourage the private sector,” he said. Saudi intellectuals think that the Saudi books now are enjoying golden times since Saudi publishers now have the abilities and the tools to produce competitive books not only in the Arab World but also internationally. “Saudi publishers have a wide freedom space in publishing and they can market their books outside the Kingdom,” said Dr. Abdulmohsen Al-Qahtani, Director of Jeddah Cultural and Literal Club. “It is true that they can't publish everything like other publishing houses who are not bothered about the moral aspects,” he said. Saudi publishers now have a main place among the Arab and the international publishers, according to Ahmed Fahad Al-Hamdan, head of the Saudi Publishers Association, and vice president of the Arab Publishers Union. “Saudi publishers have a unique distribution, producing and designing of books,” said Al-Hamdan. “The Kingdom now is having a good cultural mobility lately and this shows that the Saudi youth is on decent level of education.” On the sidelines of the exhibition, a number of workshops, meetings and seminars are planned. They will be attended by prominent Saudi writers and intellectuals, including women.
