Sharjah: His Highness Dr Shaikh Sultan Bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, witnessed the Sharjah Book Authority (SBA) identity launch held at Sharjah Expo Centre on the sidelines of the seventh Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival.
Other dignitaries present at the ceremony included Shaikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Culture, Youth and Community Development, Shaikha Budoor Bint Sultan Al Qasimi, Founder and CEO of Kalimat Group, Dr Lana Mamkegh, Jordanian Culture Minister, and Egyptian Culture Minister Dr Abdul Wahid Al Nabawi, as well as a number of heads of government departments and media representatives.
In his speech, Ahmad Bin Rakkad Al Ameri, SBA Chairman, said: “The Emirate of Sharjah has a rich cultural heritage — with historical monuments and landmarks that stand as living testimonies to its prolific history and cultural legacy being passed on from one generation to another thanks to its outstanding leaders throughout the past; the builders of the UAE’s renaissance who have sculpted the Emirate of Sharjah into a choice destination of writers, poets, intellectuals and all lovers of the written word.
The SBA Chairman divulged that the Authority’s new identity involves the launch of Sharjah publishing city, which will be the first publishing free zone in the world that will offer all professionals and stakeholders in the book and publishing industry the opportunity to benefit from package privileges to boost the publishing sector and help develop it further.
The Sharjah Book Authority will also establish the first international distribution company in the Middle East offering services that cover both the Arab and African markets.
