Muscat International Book Fair Begins

The 27th edition of the Muscat International Book Fair officially kicked off at the Oman Convention and Exhibition Center on Wednesday. It will be running until March 4 with the participation of 32 countries.

The book fair's opening ceremony was held under the patronage of Sayyid Hamoud Faisal Al Busaidi, Minister of Interior.

🎥 مقتطفات من حفل افتتاح #معرض_مسقط_الدولي_للكتاب في دورته الـ27 pic.twitter.com/WIsBEd23lD

— معرض مسقط الدولي للكتاب (@mctbookfair) February 22, 2023

Sayyid Hamoud toured the halls of the Fair and visited several corners and pavilions of official institutions and authorities, including those of the Ministry of Information, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth, the National Records and Archives Authority (NRAA), Thakerat Oman Centre, the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning and Oman Vision 2040 Implementation Follow-up Unit.

Muscat Book Fair provides a major platform for publishers, distributors, and authors from Oman and abroad.

This edition of the Book Fair sees the participation of 826 publishing houses from 32 countries. Those publishing houses will be presenting 533,063 titles and publications. Omani publications are around 22,950, while recent publications are around 5,900. On the other hand, foreign books reached 204,411 and Arabic books stood at 260,614.

Besides a diverse selection of books, the event includes several cultural programs for readers across different categories, including academic, cultural, literary, and scientific. 

The exhibition includes family and children's programs with an emphasis on sciences of the future.

Artificial Intelligence will be used in the book fair for the first time to count visitors in real-time, know their ages, and analyze all data related to the event. 

Over 300,000 visitors attended the 26th edition of the fair.