An elite group of experts and specialists in copyright, intellectual property, library affairs and publication law, will discuss the prospects for the publishing industry and challenges in the digital age during the 3rd Arab Publishers Conference (APAC). Held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, the two-day event, taking place from November 2-3 at Al Jawaher Reception and Convention Centre, will bring together more than 50 Arab and international speakers alongside 250 participants.The speakers and participants taking part in the conference sessions will cover varied topics including libraries, education, intellectual property rights, digital piracy, online distribution, freedom to publish, translation, Arabic language, and development of the publishing industry and content. With vast experience of the topics under discussion, the speakers will enrich debates about the reality of the publishing industry and will help to outline its future.
Prominent UAE speakers will include Marwan Al Sawaleh, undersecretary for Academic Affairs at the Ministry of Education, Ibrahim Abdul Rahman Al Abed, Advisor to the Board of Directors of the National Media Council, Dr Ali bin Tamim, Secretary-General of the Shaikh Zayed Book Award, writer and analyst Mishaal Al Gergawi, Director General of the Delma Institute in Abu Dhabi, DELMA, Dr. Cairo Arafat, Managing Director for Abu Dhabi-based Bidaya Media, the production company of the famous series (Open Sesame).Speakers from the Arab world include Dr. Mohammad Hussam Mahmoud Lotfy, Professor of civil law at the Faculty of Law, Beni Suef University, Egypt, and Vice Dean for Higher Studies and Research, and lawyer Rani Sader, expert in Intellectual Property law and head of the Sader Centre for Legal Studies and Research, a subsidiary of Lebanon-based “Sader Publishers”.The conference will also be attended by a number of prominent Arab publishers, including Ibrahim Al Mualem, a veteran leader in Egypt’s publishing industry and Board Chairman of “Al Shorouk”, and Mohammed Al Baghdadi, President and CEO of Al Manhal Company in Jordan.
The list of Arab speakers will also include Ahmed Al Saeed, Director of Bait Al Hekma Foundation for Culture, Media and Translation operating in China, Egypt and the UAE, and Amir Al Naji, Director of Purchases at Al Sharq Library-Diwan Bookstores, Egypt.Other big Arab names include Tunisian writer and novelist Dr. Shukri Al Mabkhout, who won the Booker Prize 2015 for his novel "Al Talyani" (The Italian), Dr. Khaled Azab, Head of Projects and Central Services Sector at the Alexandria Library, Salah Chebaro, CEO of “Neelwafurat”, Ala Al Sallal, Founder and CEO of “Jamalon.com”, Zaidoun Karadsheh, Managing Director, founder and partner of Media Plus in Jordan.The first Arab Publishers Conference titled “The Future of the Publishing Industry in the Arab World” was held in the Saudi capital Riyadh in October 2009, while Alexandria hosted the 2nd edition of the conference under the theme “Knowledge Empowerment and the Challenges of Arab Publishing” in March 2013.