When the Cape Town Book Fair (CTBF) opens its doors on 30 July 2010 it will be as the largest book fair in sub-Saharan Africa, with over 220 exhibitors from over 31 countries.

This year the two of the key focal points of the CTBF are the trade day which is an innovation and will be open to trade, publishers, booksellers and librarians, and its focus on the fair as an African fair.

The largest stand at the fair this year has been taken by the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH), an organisation that promotes the culture and heritage of the Emirates.

This is the first time that ADACH has attended the CTBF as exhibitors and Juma Al Qubaisi, head of the Abu Dhabi delegation said, "We plan to use the CTBF as a platform to pursue networking opportunities in buying and selling book rights as well as to promote our Abu Dhabi International Book Fair.

"We're hoping to introduce ADACH to a new market and to promote our portfolio of book initiatives which will be on show in our corporate stand," explained Al Qubaisi.

Representatives at the CTBF will include:

•         The Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH) is the government institution in charge of conserving and promoting the heritage and culture of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. A fundamental goal of the ADACH is to activate, enhance and support the publishing market in the Arab world.

•         The National Library was established in 1981, with the aim of preserving the cultural heritage of the UAE and providing knowledge tools to the public. The library was operational in April 1985 and is now offering the community 2 million volumes of reading material.

•         Kalima, an initiative funded by ADACH with a mission to translate, publish, & distribute books from all other languages into Arabic. Kalima aims to make the titles it translates available to a wide spectrum of readers which include variety of age groups & cultural background.

•         Sheikh Zayed Book Award is an independent award that recognises thinkers in Arab society in the areas of knowledge, arts & the humanities. It aims to encourage talented people to share their intellectual gifts, enriching the field of publishing, writing & translation.

•         Qalam was created by ADACH to nurture, encourage and promote creativity and talent for all Emiratis through the medium of writing by promoting, distributing and publishing their literary works such as short-stories, novels, plays and poetry.

•         Abu Dhabi International Book Fair is the fastest growing book fair in the Middle East, organised by KITAB, a joint venture of Frankfurt Book Fair and Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage. KITAB's aim is to develop the Arab publishing industry.

CTBF Director Claudia Kaiser said that the attendance of the ADACH delegation was "significant in growing the CTBF in terms of trade. Through our trade day on 30 July 2010 we are establishing programmes to introduce publishers to each other, and will be offering match-making sessions where delegates will be introduced to each other.

"The fair will have a mix of international and local publishers side-by-side.  It makes for great exchange as it has a global village feel, which so characterises international gatherings like these where one feels like you've had a tour of the world in one room," said Kaiser.

For more information on the CTBF programme and special events go to http://www.capetownbookfair.com/ and join us on our Facebook group for regular updates and discussion.

Issued on behalf of the Cape Town Book Fair by HWB Communications

For queries contact:

Claudia Kaiser

Director Cape Town Book Fair

Email: Claudia@capetownbookfair.co.za

Sadika Ahmed

Sales and Exhibition Manager Cape Town Book Fair

Email: ahmeds@capetownbookfair.co.za

Telephone: +27 21 418 5493

Jennifer Crocker

HWB Communications

Email: Jennifer@hwb.co.za

Telephone: +27 21 462 0416