His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Ahmed Al Qasimi, Deputy Ruler of Sharjah, and Her Highness Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi, Chairperson of the Sharjah Book Authority (SBA), toured the participating pavilions at the 45th Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF) on Wednesday morning. The fair runs from 4 to 15 November at Expo Centre Sharjah.
Their Highnesses toured the halls and met with a number of institutions, government bodies and publishers among the 3,212 publishers and exhibitors from 126 countries taking part in this 12-day edition.
Their tour began at the pavilion of the Sultanate of Oman, this year’s Guest of Honour. The Omani delegation gave them a detailed brief on their country’s participation and showed the main cultural and heritage publications on display, which draw on the Sultanate’s traditions and customs. Their Highnesses were also briefed about Oman’s guest of honour programme for SIBF 2026.
At the Sharjah Police pavilion, a presentation was made of “Writer of the Future” – an initiative that aims to discover and nurture literary talent among young people through a training programme focused on producing meaningful stories and developing creative writing and storytelling skills. The initiative also seeks to raise awareness and instill positive values among younger generations and has resulted in the publication of three winning stories.
They were also introduced to the “Smart Adaptive Learning” platform at the Sharjah Police pavilion, which uses artificial intelligence technologies to enhance the educational process. The platform provides lessons, exercises and assessments tailored to students’ needs by analysing their performance, identifying their proficiency levels and recognising their strengths.
The tour included visits to several cultural institutions, participating organisations and publishing houses, including the pavilions of the Ministry of Culture, the National Media Authority, the Sharjah Identity platform, Sharjah Broadcasting Authority, the Emirates Publishers Association and House of Wisdom.
Their Highnesses also visited the Hamdan Bin Mohammed Heritage Center, the Emirates Reprographic Rights Management Association, American University of Sharjah, University of Sharjah, the Emirates Writers Union, Sharjah Institute for Heritage, the Kingdom of Bahrain pavilion, the State of Kuwait pavilion, Al Qasimi Publications and the UAE Board on Books for Young People.
The tour also included a visit to the Judicial Council pavilion, which features several recent publications by the Sharjah Judicial Sciences Institute. Among these is a Braille edition of the Personal Status Law, designed for visually impaired law students.
The pavilion also showcases initiatives and recent publications from the Judicial Department and the Public Prosecution, alongside knowledge-focused initiatives, including the “Athar” initiative.
This year’s book fair is offering more than 1.7 million titles in many languages, spanning literature, thought, science and children’s books. Arab and international publishers are sharing the halls with government institutions and departments, which are presenting their latest publications and cultural initiatives.
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