What can exhibitors at Abu Dhabi International Book Fair 2023 look forward to?

  • Enhanced initiatives in ADIBF’s Professional Programme, designed to identify new MENA-region business partners for international publishers.

  • Subsidies for book deals from the Spotlight on Rights Programme.

  • Matchmaking opportunities for institutional buyers and focus groups for educational publishers.

  • A world-leading eZone with seminars and panels, helping you to get ahead in digital formats.

  • Huge numbers of visitors from the UAE and MENA regions.

At the centre of market potential and future growth

Abu Dhabi is rapidly becoming the centre of the Arab book trade and a pivotal annual meeting point for booksellers, publishers and distributors in the Arabian Peninsula and Gulf region, and beyond.

Progressive, tolerant and culturally open

Development in Abu Dhabi is moving quickly. The government here is investing substantially in culture and the arts, and key priorities include nurturing reading and literacy. With culture comes tolerance; Abu Dhabi is known throughout the region for its commitment to a lack of censorship and the rule of law, and open-minded multi-cultural intellectual exchange.

The Abu Dhabi International Book Fair welcomes publishing professionals to our progressive and peaceful emirate, where culture meets commerce at the crossroads of world publishing.

 

A thriving Professional Programme

Don’t miss out on the wide selection of dedicated sessions, meetings and panels in our Professional Programme, aimed at making your visit to ADIBF as productive as possible. Every year, thousands of industry professionals attend a diverse range of offerings from over sixty industry-leading speakers.

After an overwhelmingly positive reaction from exhibitors in previous years, Abu Dhabi International Book Fai rhas expanded its Professional Programme for ADIBF 2023, with a number of new initiatives aimed at fostering international connections and a robust publishing industry in the MENA region.

Don’t miss the chance to gain an in-depth insight into the publishing sector in the Arab World and Middle East today, with a programme covering all essential topics – including distribution markets, rights trading, literary trends and technological developments. Experts will debate the hottest issues facing the publishing community today, from grassroots media companies to artificial intelligence, and champion progressive solutions to move the industry forwards.

Targeted matchmaking sessions

Let the Professional Programme team assist you in finding potential business partners to boost your network in the Arab world and beyond. Matchmaking sessions between Arab and international publishers are the perfect way to add value to your ADIBF experience and growth to your business.

Spotlight on Rights

The Spotlight on Rights (SoR) initiative continues apace, with hundreds of applications flooding in each year. The programme encourages the creation of new rights deals through generous grants. These reward the translation of books from and into the Arabic language, and the digitisation of exisiting books. Publishers are invited to apply for subsidies in the Printed Works, Audiobooks and eBooks categories.

In the ten years since its inception, the SoR Programme has fostered 600 rights deals for translated works and has provided 120 publishing houses with 1.8 million US dollars in grants – and counting!

To find out more about the SoR Programme, please click here (link to Spotlight on Rights page) or email rights@kitab.ae