Doha International Book Fair 32 held today a panel discussion on the future of the book publishing industry in the Arab World.

Secretary-General of the Arab Publishers Association Bashar Shebaro, Director of Qatar University Press Fatma Mohammed Al Sowaidi, Director of the Qatari Publishers and Distributors Forum Riyad Ahmed Yassin, member of Arab Publishers Union Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Fereeh Al Obaikan. The panel discussion was moderated by Abdulrahman Al Mahdi.

Shebaro pointed out that there are many challenges facing Arab Publishers, the most prominent of which is the lack of accurate figures on the publishing industry, and this has many reasons, including tax evasion and lack of experience, or lack of interest in presenting the information. He said that the publishing industry in the Arab world saw major developments over the past period, noting that Qatar published 922 books, including academic ones, in 2022. Meanwhile Egypt published 12,800 official books. Countries in the region like Turkey publishes 83,000 titles, while in the UK there were half a million new books.

For his part, Al Obaikan said that publishing houses in the West adopt a different school to the one in the Arab world, in terms of intellectual property and the publishing value chain. He noted that publishers in the Arab world have full control over the value chain, while in the West its divided over four different phases, giving an example with the separation of publishing and distribution.

Al Sowaidi meanwhile discussed the standards employed at her press, highlighting that it aims for distinguished works in the scientific research and education fields. She said that the press attracts distinguished authors in all fields as part of the university’s role in serving Qatar National Vision 2030.

Yassin meanwhile discussed the industry in Qatar and said that the fair is an opportunity for publishers to exchange expertise. He added that Qatar’s industry is relatively young, given it started in 2016 with five publishing houses, that grew today to 22.

Source: Qatar News Agency