Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation to participate in Frankfurt Book Fair 2008

Dubai: The Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation on Wednesday announced it will host a series of cultural activities during its inaugural participation at the Frankfurt Book Fair, the world's largest in terms of the number of publishing companies represented.

The announcement was made by Yasser Hareb, Vice President for Culture, Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation, while addressing a large gathering of Arab, German and international media persons at the Berlin International Literary Festival 2008.

The event was attended by His Excellency Mohammad Ahmed Al Mahmoud, UAE ambassador to Germany.

More than 100 world renowned poets and authours are participating at the eighth edition of the Berlin event that opened on 24 September and runs until 4 October.

Numerous international authors and poets have demonstrated significant enthusiasm in the Foundation's literary programmes and cultural activities presented at the festival.

The Foundation also hosted a gala dinner to more than 150 renowned literary personalities with a view to encouraging and strengthening Arab-European cultural dialogue.

Yasser Hareb highlighted the Foundation's objectives inspired by the vision of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai towards enhancing the Arab world's knowledge capabilities, promoting quality intellectual output in the region and encouraging inter-cultural dialogue.

Hareb said: “International participations are crucial elements in our multi-tier strategy, particularly in exploring and promoting cooperation with thought leaders and literary personalities from across the globe. With over 7,000 publishers and tens of thousands of visitors, the Frankfurt Book Fair represents an important platform to promote Arabic culture and interact with leading cultural organisations from various parts of the world.

“At the Frankfurt fair, the Foundation will co-organise a series of seminars and round-table discussions focused on promoting cultural cooperation between the west and the Arab world,'' he added.