RIYADH: Malaysia will be the guest of honor at the Riyadh International Book Fair 2017, which opens on March 8 at the Riyadh International Exhibition Center, Adel Al-Toraifi, minister of culture and information, announced on Thursday.
“Choosing the Kingdom of Malaysia as the guest of honor comes … with the distinctive ties between the two countries in various political, economic, cultural and tourism fields,” the minister said. He added that his ministry has started activating the national transformation initiatives through its programs, events and activities, including Riyadh International Book Fair.
“We will work on establishing the concept of our national identity as well as the methodology of moderation and tolerance pursued by the Government of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques,” Al-Toraifi said.
Malaysian Ambassador Zainol Rahim Zainuddin told Arab News that his government is honored to have got this opportunity to be the guest of honor at the upcoming book fair.
“We are thankful to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman and Minister Adel Al-Toraifi for their kind cooperation in this matter,” Zainuddin said.
The envoy said already a team from Malaysia is currently working here to help the local authorities as to how best they could project Malaysia well at the forthcoming show. There will be around 15 publishers from Malaysia will exhibit their products and some 50 representatives from the publishing houses will attend the show.
Around 60 percent of the 400 books exhibited at the show will be on children and youths and the rest will cover other areas and segments of the community, the envoy said.
The Malaysian cartoonist LET will be present with his books at the show. “Kampung Boy” was authored by LET and was translated into 20 languages including Arabic, the envoy said.