17 March 2013
RIYADH -- Business worth a whopping SR71.64 million was concluded as curtains were drawn Friday on the Riyadh International Book Fair which attracted more than 2.4 million visitors during the 10-day event.
The annual event was organized by the Ministry of Culture and Information and held at Riyadh International Conventions and Exhibitions Center (RICEC), a 200,000 sq. meter facility owned by the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
"Saudi society has an overwhelming passion for the culture of reading books," said Dr. Abdullah Al-Jassir, Deputy Minister of Culture and Information, at the event's launch on March 5.
The fair reportedly hosted a million visitors in its first four days of operation and a total of 2.4 million throughout the 10-day event, men and women alike.
With heavy traffic in the first five hours of the event, the fair reportedly sold hundreds of books, the majority of which were novels and stories.
In total, the event featured 250,000 books and one million e-books on a wide variety of topics, according to Dr. Nasser Al-Hujailan, Secretary of Cultural Affairs at the Ministry of Culture and Information. The ministry distributed over 100,000 books free of charge. The books ranged in subject from Islamic titles, vocational manuals, literary titles and novels.
The fair this year hosted 790 publishing houses, 260 more than last year, half of which were Saudi-based and the rest Arab and foreign, according to the ministry.
The event also featured daily lectures and book signings by some of the Kingdom's and Arab world's most prominent thinkers and writers, organized and sponsored by their respective publishing houses. With focus on technology and innovation, the organizers deployed electronic directory stations at every corner of the exhibition ground where visitors were able to browse through the millions of books on display, find their location at the event, as well as information on their price, author and publishing house.
Continuing the trend of technology and innovation, the fair's security measures included hundreds of cameras scattered throughout its halls and 100 hidden cameras monitoring the event.
The book fair was originally established as a collective effort by various universities in the Kingdom, King Saud University in particular, and was later handed to the Ministry of Higher Education after finally being exposed to a wider audience through the efforts of the Ministry of Culture and Information.
RIYADH -- Business worth a whopping SR71.64 million was concluded as curtains were drawn Friday on the Riyadh International Book Fair which attracted more than 2.4 million visitors during the 10-day event.
The annual event was organized by the Ministry of Culture and Information and held at Riyadh International Conventions and Exhibitions Center (RICEC), a 200,000 sq. meter facility owned by the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
"Saudi society has an overwhelming passion for the culture of reading books," said Dr. Abdullah Al-Jassir, Deputy Minister of Culture and Information, at the event's launch on March 5.
The fair reportedly hosted a million visitors in its first four days of operation and a total of 2.4 million throughout the 10-day event, men and women alike.
With heavy traffic in the first five hours of the event, the fair reportedly sold hundreds of books, the majority of which were novels and stories.
In total, the event featured 250,000 books and one million e-books on a wide variety of topics, according to Dr. Nasser Al-Hujailan, Secretary of Cultural Affairs at the Ministry of Culture and Information. The ministry distributed over 100,000 books free of charge. The books ranged in subject from Islamic titles, vocational manuals, literary titles and novels.
The fair this year hosted 790 publishing houses, 260 more than last year, half of which were Saudi-based and the rest Arab and foreign, according to the ministry.
The event also featured daily lectures and book signings by some of the Kingdom's and Arab world's most prominent thinkers and writers, organized and sponsored by their respective publishing houses. With focus on technology and innovation, the organizers deployed electronic directory stations at every corner of the exhibition ground where visitors were able to browse through the millions of books on display, find their location at the event, as well as information on their price, author and publishing house.
Continuing the trend of technology and innovation, the fair's security measures included hundreds of cameras scattered throughout its halls and 100 hidden cameras monitoring the event.
The book fair was originally established as a collective effort by various universities in the Kingdom, King Saud University in particular, and was later handed to the Ministry of Higher Education after finally being exposed to a wider audience through the efforts of the Ministry of Culture and Information.
© The Saudi Gazette 2013
