More than 650 publishing houses to take part in Muscat book fair

Muscat: More than 650 publishing houses from 27 Arab and foreign countries will take part directly or through agents in the Muscat International Book Fair, Dr. Abdulmun’em bin Mansour Al Hassani, minister of information and head of the organising committee said on Wednesday.
Dr. Al Hassani said the 21st edition of Muscat International Book Fair 2016 will kick off at Oman International Exhibition Centre on February 24 and continue until March 5 under the auspices of Mohammed bin Al Zubair, Advisor to His Majesty the Sultan for Economic Planning Affairs.
He added that the fair includes two sections, the first one named ‘Al Farahidi’ will be dedicated to official agencies, Arab and foreign publishers displaying Arabic books. ‘Ahmed Bin Majid’ section will be dedicated for the publishing houses displaying foreign, Arab and child books, as well as the fair’s associated events and activities.
“The fair, which stretches over 8,550 square metres, houses 950 pavilions. The total area of the previous version of the fair was 7,848 square metres having 872 pavilions,” Dr. Al Hassani added.
He further said that the official participations stood at 44 from the Sultanate and abroad while the number of participating houses of publishing at the foreign book section stood at 33 representing GCC, Arab and foreign houses and libraries.