Cairo Book Fair, the largest of its kind in the Arab world

The Cairo International Book Fair, which is scheduled to officially open its gold session on Tuesday, is the largest of its kind in the Arab world and has stated that there are major Arab performances in preparation, it is about other Arab countries.

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"The export of the Egyptian book began in the middle of the 19th century, but the Cairo exhibition should be a center for the export of Egyptian books and culture," he said. And Arabic for the Arab, Islamic and African world and to enjoy its Arab status ".

"There are no accurate statistics in the Arab world for publishing, but for Egypt it goes from 0.5% to 1%, while America is 30%," Europe 30%, China, Korea, Japan and Asia about 34% ".

• The Book Fair is the largest official cultural event in the Arab world

"The book is considered the largest official cultural event in Egypt and the Arab world and is officially prepared for its opening by the President of the Republic, and popularly because it follows all segments of society.

To create a book fair, not a market, two days should be dedicated only to professionals: publishers, authors, curators, book distributors, public libraries, critics and university professors. To be internationally recognized, there must be 3 different cultures.

He praised the facilities of the exhibition's Gold Session and its new headquarters, emphasizing that it is better than the old exhibition, which was used by the state to settle in the Nasr City exhibition center, which he described as unsuitable.

• Islam Shalaby, the owner of the Cairo International Book Fair

He explained that the first session of the fair was in 1969, that is, two years after the arrest, pointing out that the owner of the idea of ​​ u200b u200bthe exhibition and the reason for its success is Islam Shalabi, advisor and general manager of the Organization of the Egyptian general book.

He added that the conditions at that time were very difficult and that there were no references to the scientific colleges available on the market because of the availability of hard currency, but "Shalabi" tried to provide books and agreements with major publishers and take advantage of similar exhibitions in other countries for the Cairo exhibition.

Dr. Tharwat Okasha, former minister of culture, welcomed the idea, but his proposal is Islam Chalabi, who took over the exhibition for his first three years, which was the reason for his success until now.

Gamal Abdel Nasser is one of the biggest fans of the book fair

Ing. Ibrahim Al-Moallem said that the late president Gamal Abdel Nasser was one of the biggest fans of the book fair, he encouraged Chalabi to implement the idea and provided him with all the media, giving him a speech officer who allowed him to go to any country at any time in collaboration with the organs of the sovereign state, and provided him with a strong currency to buy books and references to be exhibited in the exhibition, indicating the success of this last in the glow of the foreign editors and most Egyptians to participate in the exhibition.

• History The opening of Jihan Sadat opened the first children's book fair

He said that despite the encouragement of "Abdel Nasser" of the idea, but did not participate in the inauguration and not once, as well as the late president Mohammed Anwar Sadat, unlike his wife, the lady Jehan Sadat, who opened the first exhibition of books for the child in the late sixties.

In the same context, he said that the story dropped the openness of Jihan Sadat to the exhibition of the child's book, which was held in the grounds of the island, under the former Minister of Culture and # 39; Dr. Mansour Hassan Information.

• Mubarak is the first president to open the book fair thanks to Anis Mansour

He added that the former president Mohamed Hosni Mubarak is the first president to attend the opening of a book fair, thanks to the late writer Anis Mansour, who asked him during the opening of the first exhibition of productive families near the Book Fair site.

• $ 420 billion in publishing in the world

The volume of creative industry revenue in the world is about $ 1.7 billion, the publishing industry is about $ 420 billion, books are $ 151 billion, scientific journals and newspapers are about $ 277 billion.

He went on to say that the software industry revenue is about $ 300 billion, while music, theater and opera are $ 50 billion and cinemas $ 50 billion.

He explained that despite the rise of the software industry, but the industry of publishing books, periodicals and periodicals is even greater so far, the area: "the creative industries are the most interesting in the ongoing human being ".

• Do not consider that there is a crisis in the book industry

And the existence of a crisis in the book industry in Egypt has said it does not consider that there is a crisis in the book industry, but the publishing movement must prosper in proportion to the status of Egypt. , emphasizing the need to fight fraud because it is not appropriate for Egypt, which described it as the capital of the natural historical culture of the Islamic Arab world, in addition to supporting the efforts of the state in the fight against this phenomenon.

He emphasized the importance of education in the development of the book industry and the publishing movement. "The current education is not appropriate for Egypt because it brings out generations that are not able to compete internationally, so the largest number of Egyptian publishers must work with publishers all over the world to improve curricula and textbooks ".

He praised textbooks in Singapore and Korea, describing them as superior to being competitive and subject to renewal, continued development and global openness, unlike what happened in Egypt for many years.

• Paper books are still at the top of sales, despite the easy acquisition of digital

L & # 39; Ing. Ibrahim Al-Moallem said that the libraries of Al-Shorouk offer the delivery of books anywhere in the republic by e-mail via e-mail, and e-bookshops also provide audiobook service, which sometimes it is the voice of the author himself.

He stressed that although digital versions are easy to obtain and low-priced, paper is still in first place in sales volume. "The volume of electronic sales is 1.7%, 3% on tilt and 2% on audiobooks."

• The cheapest books in Egypt

He stressed that books in Egypt at current prices are the cheapest at Arab and international levels, after popular books in the United States exceed 10 dollars and more than 10 British pounds in Britain.

Digital books are priced less than 40% -70%, he said, citing multiple electronic libraries, including Amazon and Google Play.

• 2010 witnessed a cultural renaissance

Regarding his assessment of the cultural situation in Egypt, 2010 was considered one of the best years for the prosperity of paper books, pointing out that this year saw an unexpected outpouring of parties for the signing of numerous prominent writers including Ibrahim Issa and Jalal Amin.

He added that the cultural revival of the last two years was not limited to reading the novels alone, but there were many readings: as far as audio books are concerned, he explained that the books of horror are the most listened to and the human development is in competition with novels in the intensity of turnout, political books are less popular.

He described the reading as usually not real in Egypt, it is not a characteristic of current generations and has not been the same for the past, however the youth group is the most popular reading, observing that in the past the volume of production was 600 books, which is currently increased to 11 thousand books every year.

He stressed the difficulties facing classical Arabic teaching with the spread of linguistic education, considering the proliferation of books and articles written in public evidence of the decline and decline of language, which requires development of learning methods and the community to revive it again.

• Newspapers face a content crisis

"Newspapers face a content crisis, especially with a limited number of readers, which will increase with interest in the educational process and content development," said Shorouq president.

He stressed that the number of readers among young people is not satisfactory, underlining the need to support public libraries and the participation of publishers in the press and the presentation of the textbook and the university under the supervision and coordination of the ministries. of higher education and education.

He referred to the budget allocated to public libraries in the United States of America 10 years ago, which was then estimated at $ 15 billion a year, emphasizing the need to provide an adequate budget for public libraries and the training of secretaries and staff.

• The number of publishers is not in line with population growth

On the role of publishing in Egypt, he said that their number is not fixed and some of them are increasing and distinct, but their rate is not consistent with the current increase in the population, pointing to the effect of positive parts of the signature in stimulating sales and creating an atmosphere of dialogue between the reader and the author.

He condemned the widespread piracy of books, which he described as a "catastrophe". It is not appropriate that Egypt suffers from it, so it must be seen as a heinous crime of theft and support and encourage all efforts to criminalize piracy and fight the state.

• Pen readers are influenced by the recent price increase of only 10

Commenting on the increase in the price of the 4-Pound Al-Shorouq newspaper from this year, the plant president said that newspapers should not be sold for less than half of their real cost, pointing out that only 10% of Al-Shorouk readers Express their adherence to the newspaper and their understanding of economic conditions.

He stressed that the newspaper has freely published its electronic version in contrast to foreign countries, emphasizing that the press abroad is one of the means of democracy, so the profession enjoys the press institutions with its own economies.

He criticized the suggestion of part of the need to rely on advertising in the financing of the press as not commensurate with what the work of journalism, warning of the disappearance of printing paper and the decline in the number of copies in recent years.

Regarding the proposal to block the newspapers for one or two days a week, the "teacher" explained that the Egyptian reader if the newspaper complained about the day is also avoided, so it must keep the continuation of the daily publication.

The XXV edition of the Cairo International Book Fair will be officially inaugurated on January 22nd and the public will open on the 23rd, at the new exhibition site, in the fifth assembly, behind the Al-Moushir Tantawi mosque.