Culture & Education | Sunday 13 December, 2015 1:52 am |

The greatest book in the world is the Holy Qur’an and one must understand the importance of reading and understanding it, Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal said while inaugurating an international book fair here on Friday.

A total of 25 countries with more than 440 international and national publishers under thousands of titles are participating in the 10-day event.
Also present at the opening ceremony were Jeddah Gov. Prince Mishaal bin Majed, who is also chairman of the supreme committee of the exhibition, and Culture and Information Minister Adel Al-Toraifi.
The aim of the book fair is to raise awareness and educate the community, encourage people to read books and link intellectuals and book lovers.
The book fair is a platform for creativity and innovation with literary activities, lectures, cultural seminars, story-telling and poetry nights. 
Prince Khaled Al-Faisal said that the exhibition will be a very big step toward a culture movement not only in Jeddah and Makkah, but in the whole of the Kingdom. 
Prince Mishaal hailed Prince Khaled, the Ministry of Culture and Information, Jeddah Chamber of Commerce for supporting the event, and thanked local and international publishing houses for participating. 
He said such events promote knowledge, culture, academic research, reading skills, local literature and young writers to highlight their skills.
Prince Mishaal said the book fair will spread the culture of science, knowledge, literature and arts, support the dialogue of civilizations and values of cultures, writers, intellectuals’ efforts in promoting talents in various fields.
Saud Al-Katib, the ministry’s official spokesman, said the book fair will help in bringing together different cultures from around the world and provide a great opportunity to book lovers to get everything under one roof. 
He said that more than 260 young and new writers are participating in the book fair, which is a great opportunity for them to introduce themselves and share their vision with members of the public.