Today's Edition
ABU DHABI (ALETIHAD)
Private-sector publishers and exhibitors will not have to pay rental fees for their pavilions at this year's Abu Dhabi International Book Fair (ADIBF), organisers announced.
The Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre (ALC) confirmed the fee waiver as part of a support package extended to publishers taking part in the 35th edition of the fair.
The event runs from September 13 to 18 at Adnec Centre Abu Dhabi.
Exhibitors will also get expanded opportunities for professional networking and exchanging copyrights and translation rights.
The move follows previous ADIBF editions in which exhibitors and publishers were granted full or partial exemptions from participation and pavilion fees.
Saeed Hamdan Al Tunaiji, Executive Director of the ALC and Director of the ADIBF, said the measures aim to ease the financial burden on publishers and encourage greater investment in participation. He added that the goal is to turn the fair into a fully integrated book market and a hub for partnerships, rather than just a showcase for new titles.
Support for publishers goes beyond cutting costs, Al Tunaiji said. It also means helping them get more value from taking part by reaching wider audiences, gaining insight into reading trends, building relationships with industry professionals and exploring copyright and translation-rights deals.
"The strong Arab presence at the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair reflects the importance of the Arab book industry and the need to provide a more supportive environment for its growth," he said, pointing to sweeping changes in the industry, from evolving reading habits to the rise of digital platforms.
The fair connects publishers with counterparts from different markets through professional programmes and grants. These include ‘Spotlight on Rights’, an initiative designed to support translation efforts, drive digital transformation in publishing, open new markets for Arabic books and facilitate the acquisition of rights for international works in the region.
“A publisher’s success is not measured solely by the number of titles on display,” Al Tunaiji said, “but by their ability to reach readers and benefit from their presence at the fair to achieve concrete outcomes covering everything from discovering the book, through its purchase, all the way to building a sustainable relationship with the reader”.
