Friday 23 / January / 2026
Muscat: The Sultanate of Oman is participating in the 57th Cairo International Book Fair, which opened in the Egyptian capital and will continue until February 3.
Oman’s participation in the opening ceremony was attended by H.E. Abdullah bin Nasser Al Rahbi, Ambassador of the Sultanate of Oman to the Arab Republic of Egypt and its Permanent Representative to the League of Arab States. The event was officially inaugurated by Dr. Mostafa Madbouly, Prime Minister of Egypt, in the presence of a number of senior officials.
During his visit to the Omani pavilion, Dr. Ahmed Fouad Hano, Egypt’s Minister of Culture, praised Oman’s participation, noting that the Sultanate had been the Guest of Honor at the previous 56th edition of the fair. He described Oman as a major pillar of cultural and artistic activity in the region and the Arab world, highlighting the richness and diversity of its cultural, scientific, and intellectual contributions.
Through its participation, the Sultanate of Oman aims to showcase Omani intellectual and cultural production across various fields and to strengthen existing relations with Egypt, particularly in cultural spheres.
The Omani pavilion features a wide range of publications spanning different areas of knowledge, with the aim of introducing the Omani book to a broader audience and highlighting the Sultanate’s intellectual, literary, and historical heritage. It also facilitates access to Omani publications for researchers, thinkers, and the general public. The collection includes a carefully selected range of recent titles covering cultural, literary, artistic, jurisprudential, media, and tourism-related topics.
The current edition of the Cairo International Book Fair honors the late Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfouz as the Personality of the Fair, in recognition of his enduring literary legacy and his role in enriching Arabic fiction. Renowned artist Mohieddin El-Labbad was selected as the Personality of the Children’s Book Fair, in tribute to his influential creative career. Romania is the Guest of Honor of this year’s edition, which is held under the slogan: “He who stops reading for an hour falls centuries behind,” underscoring the importance of reading as a cornerstone of progress and awareness-building.
