The Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) and the Arab Publishers’ Association (APA) held a meeting to explore prospects for mutual cooperation to support the printing and publishing industry in light of the many challenges faced by the industry.
The meeting, held last Monday (6 June 2022), at ICESCO’s pavilion at the 27th International Publishing and Book Fair (SIEL) in Morocco’s capital Rabat, was attended by APA President Mohamed Rashad along with members of the association’s board of directors, and several publishers participating in the book fair. On behalf of ICESCO Director General (DG) Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, the organization’s delegation in the meeting included Head of the Culture and Communication sector Dr. Mohamed Zinealabidine, Cultural Advisor to the DG Najib Rhiati, and Head of Department of Information and Institutional Communication Samy Elkamhawy.
The two sides reaffirmed their keenness to build a fruitful partnership in cultural services and supporting the printing and publishing industry achieve their goals.
The meeting touched on a number of proposals for future collaboration in printing and publishing, besides participating in book fairs held in ICESCO member states, especially from the African continent. Future events between the two were also confirmed including ICESCO’s participation in the 6th APA Conference to be hosted by the emirate of Sharjah in November, as well as cooperation between ICESCO and APA in organizing a conference in 2023 on the challenges faced by the printing and publishing industry.
ICESCO and APA also agreed on holding similar such meetings and setting executive plans and practical programmes for the future.
