Report of the Board of Directors of the Arab Publishers` Association
About the ninth session 2019-2021
To the Ordinary General Assembly
held in Cairo on Sunday 30/1/2022
Colleagues and colleagues / members of the General Assembly of the Arab Publishers` Association
After Greetings.
At the conclusion of the work of the ninth session (2019/2021) of the Arab Publishers` Association, we extend our sincere thanks and appreciation to you for your cooperation and support and for the constructive proposals that some of you shared with us, in order to achieve the goals that we sought to achieve during the ninth session, and to complete the Association’s march at the Arab and international levels. Professionalism, honesty and development are the basis for the work of the Association''''s Board of Directors for the ninth session.
We tried to present the new, useful and diverse activities for the development of the Association’s activity, especially after the emergence of the Corona pandemic, which had catastrophic negative effects on the global economy and on the publishing industry and Arab publishers in particular, as many publishing houses were forced to close and others were forced to dispense with half of the employment, which made us We are looking for new ideas, projects and initiatives to preserve the industry and our members, which we will detail in the report later. As for the most important loss, we lost dozens of colleagues because of this pandemic, we ask God for mercy and forgiveness for them.
Thanks to God Almighty, and then with the efforts of colleagues and the activities of the committees in the association, we made attempts to open new outlets for the marketing and distribution of Arabic books through electronic platforms. and public libraries to mitigate the effects of the Corona pandemic.
Accordingly, we would like to inform you of what was achieved during the ninth session:
First: official and executive meetings
- The Extraordinary General Assembly meeting on January 25, 2020 AD to approve several important amendments to facilitate the activities of the Association.
Board meetings:
1- In 2019, two (meetings) were held in Cairo and Beirut.
2- In 2020, 3 meetings were held, one in Cairo in person and (two) via the Internet.
3- In 2021, two (two meetings) were held, the first online. The second was in attendance in Cairo, in addition to the final meeting in January 2022 AD to discuss the arrangements for the General Assembly.
- Several other consultative meetings were also held for the members of the Board of Directors via Internet applications and during some Arab exhibitions during the session.
Second: Association Membership:
- The number of new members who joined the association in the ninth session reached 156 members, bringing the number of members of the association to 1041 compared to the end of the eighth session 885 members, and by the end of the seventh session 725 members.
- The number of local associations that joined the association reached 18 instead of 16, one of which is an observer member.
- Periodically update the data of associations and publishing houses, members of the association, electronically.
Third: Financial and Administrative Affairs:
- All members of the association were exempted from subscription in 2020, in order to ease their burdens due to the Corona pandemic, obtained by 299 publishing houses, and 277 publishing houses did not obtain it to pay it at the beginning of the session, and its exemption will be carried over to the tenth session, and the total value of the exemptions amounted to 86,400 dollars (eighty-six thousand four hundred American dollar).
With these exemptions, a general surplus was achieved for the end of the current session 2019-2021, amounting to 111,992 dollars (one hundred and eleven thousand nine hundred and ninety-two US dollars) compared to the eighth session, which achieved $95,844, which is calculated for the administration’s success during the pandemic crisis.
The delays of unpaid members, especially for two or more sessions, were also followed up, as well as the regional publishing associations from the beginning of the session for several times, and reports were made by the members of the association and delivered to the regional associations to follow up on the payment of their members’ subscriptions periodically.
Fourth: Arab Relations and International Representation:
1- The Arab Publishers` Association participated in cultural activities and intellectual property conferences held by the League of Arab States under official invitations during the session, both in person and by default.
2- The meeting took place with Sheikha Bodour Al Qasimi, President of the International Publishers Association, in January 2021 AD in Cairo.
3- Attending some other virtual meetings with the president of the International Publishers Association and some chairmen of the committees from the International and Arab Associations and the heads of the Arab publishing associations during the years 2020 AD and 2021 AD.
4- The meeting of the President of the Association with His Highness Shihab bin Tariq bin Taimur, Deputy Prime Minister for Defense Affairs, Muscat, in February 2020.
5- Meeting with the Proposals and Complaints Committee - in the Egyptian House of Representatives - to submit proposals to amend the provisions of Law (82) of 2002 regarding the protection of intellectual property rights in December 2019.
6- Attending the annual meeting of intellectuals at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in December 2019.
7- Participation in the regional conference between the International Publishers Association and the Jordanian Publishers Association under the patronage of Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah, entitled "Read. Empower. Evolution. The Role of Reading in the Future of the Arab World" in October 2019.
8- Participation in the celebration of Sharjah as the World Book Capital in September 2019.
9- Officially participating in the preparatory committee for the presence of the League of Arab States as a guest of honor at the Cairo International Book Fair 2019.
10- Participation in several international and Arab surveys regarding the trends of publishers and the publishing industry.
Fifth: Official meetings:
1- The meeting of the President of the Association with the Egyptian Prime Minister, Dr. Mostafa Madbouly, and the Minister of Culture, Enas Abdel Dayem, at the Association’s pavilion at the Cairo Exhibition 2021.
2- The meeting of the President of the Association with the Libyan Minister of Culture, Mrs. Mabrouka Toghy Othman, and the Libyan Ambassador at the Libya Pavilion at the Cairo International Book Fair 2021.
3- A meeting of the delegation of the Board of Directors of the Association with His Excellency Sheikh Marzouq Al-Ghanim - the former Speaker of the Kuwaiti National Assembly on the sidelines of the Kuwait International Book Fair in November 2019.
4- The meeting of the Executive Office with His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council Ruler of Sharjah at the Frankfurt Fair in October 2019.
5- The meeting of the Secretary-General of the Association with His Excellency Jiang Jianguo, Minister of Information, during the opening of the Book Fair in Beijing in August 2019.
6- The meeting of the Board of Directors with the Prime Minister of Lebanon, former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, in July 2019.
7- The meeting of the Board of Directors with the former Lebanese Minister of Culture, Dr. Mohamed Daoud, in July 2019.
8- The meeting of the President of the Association with the former Tunisian Minister of Culture, Dr. Mohamed Zine El Abidine, to discuss the problems of the publishing industry in Tunisia in 2019.
Sixth: Advantages for Publishers:
1- Exemption of all member publishing houses from the subscription of the Association for the year 2020, and the transfer of the value of the exemption for the following year to those who paid the subscription before the decision was issued in June 2020.
2- It was agreed with the exhibition departments of Kuwait, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, Cairo and Doha to allow publishers from Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Algeria, Tunisia, Yemen and Libya to pay the participation value or half the value during the exhibition period to facilitate them, and it was agreed, to reduce expenses and the burden of bank transfers, with the guarantee of the Arab Publishers` Association.
3- Meeting with the Literature, Publishing and Translation Authority that supervises the management of the Riyadh International Book Fair several times during the years 2020 AD and 2021 AD to improve the conditions for the participation of members in the exhibition, and for the first time in several years, Syrian publishers have participated.
4- Exempting all publishing houses from the fees for renting pavilions at the Sharjah International Book Fair 2020, the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair 2021, the Riyadh International Book Fair 2021, and the Doha Fair 2022.
5- Governmental bodies and exhibitions in Muscat, Sharjah, Iraq, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh and Doha allocate budgets to acquire the latest publications from participating publishing houses, both in person and by default.
6- Communicating with the Department of the Book Salon in Algeria to reduce the rental price of the suites from $140 per square meter to $110 for 2022 AD, and communicating with the Doha Exhibition 2022 administration to exempt publishers from the pavilions fees and bear the cost of making PCR swabs during the exhibition period.
7- It was agreed with the Cairo International Book Fair to grant a 20% reduction in the fees for pavilions to members of the association during the three years of the session. Instead of $150 in 2021, the fees for pavilions at the Iraq exhibition were also reduced by 10% for members of the Association in 2020, and the Tunis exhibition was reduced by 20% in 2019.
8- After requesting the Jeddah International Book Fair to grant members some advantages; 10% of rental fees for members were reduced, agency fees were canceled, and comprehensive insurance was made for the exhibition in June 2019.
9- Communication with the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair, regarding the Department of Learning Resources at the Ministry of Education in the UAE. It was agreed that publishing houses whose titles were not selected will continue with them and upload the best fifteen issues to choose from, June 2019.
10- Communicating with the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair management to improve the conditions for the participation of member publishers, and a 50% discount was granted to all participants, and the agency fee was cancelled, April 2019.
11- Communication with the departments of Arab exhibitions "Baghdad, Muscat, Abu Dhabi, Jeddah", to exempt publishing houses participating in exhibitions from agency fees, 2019.
12- Conducting PCR swabs for all publishers in all exhibitions during 2021 free of charge, with incurring the expenses of quarantine for any publisher who was confirmed to be infected.
13- The commitment of most exhibitions to the priority of participation for members of the Arab Publishers` Association, then members of the regional Association.
Seventh: Activities of the Association:
1- Cooperation with the League of Arab States:
Cooperation with the university continued through several different activities, and through different committees and sectors at the university, and the association was invited to participate in all conferences concerned with intellectual property rights and cultural activities, and here are some cooperation activities:
- Addressing the League with a working paper to urge Arab countries to join and ratify the two WIPO conventions in the field of the Internet for the possibility of blocking pirated sites. The signatories are only 7 out of 22 Arab countries.
- Addressing the university with a working paper with proposals to protect intellectual property rights to be presented to the Arab Interior Ministers Conference, July 2020.
- According to the recommendations of the symposium “Protecting Intellectual Property Rights and the Publishing Industry” held in cooperation with the Association, the League of Arab States assigned the Association to express its opinion and make important amendments as a competent authority in the publishing industry in the draft model contracts for publishers prepared by the League. March 2020 AD.
- Participation in the first regional conference "The Digital Map of Arab Libraries and Information Centers" in July 2019.
- Participation in the celebrations of the International Day of the Arabic Language and participation in the Arab Forum for the Advancement of the Arabic Language, and on the World Intellectual Property Day, March 2019.
- Request to conduct a survey study for remote destinations in Arab countries in order to invite member publishers to support libraries in remote villages in these countries, 2019.
- Participation in the preparation of seminars on the sidelines of various Arab exhibitions, such as: On the sidelines of the fiftieth session of the Cairo Fair, January 2019, where the guest of honor was the League of Arab States, two seminars were held in cooperation together: the first seminar on “Current developments and developments in the field of intellectual property rights protection”, The second symposium is entitled "The Role of the Arab Publisher in Protecting the Arab Society from Extremism and Terrorism."
2- Council of Arab Economic Unity:
In the context of continuing follow-up from previous sessions to document the legal status of the association alongside its status in the League of Arab States, to obtain a headquarters agreement to support its activities as an independent association that exercises its legal right at the Arab and international levels to represent its members and defend their legitimate rights, or to open bank accounts, and to make a power of attorney for the legal advisor , or buying an independent headquarters in the name of the association, the council continued to follow up on obtaining membership in the unit council, and a complete file was submitted containing All documents and criteria required to join the specialized Arab associations operating within the scope of the Council.
3- The Arab Organization for Education, Culture and Science “ALECSO”
- Cooperation with ALECSO has continued since the previous session through the Culture Department and the Information and Communication Department, where the Arab Publishers` Association was appointed as an observer member to attend the conferences of ministers responsible for cultural affairs in the Arab world.
- Cooperation with the Association and the adoption of the activation of the Arab agreement to facilitate the transfer of Arab cultural production was approved at the Ministers’ Conference of the 21st session, October 2018 in Cairo.
- Cooperation was made with the Association to prepare a field study on the book industry and its publication in Arab countries, and another on the development of reading tendencies in the Arab community in light of digital development, and a project to develop the publishing industry and knowledge and the target countries for its Mauritania - Somalia - Djibouti - Comoros. He presented these studies to the Conference of Arab Ministers of Culture in December 2021 in the United Arab Emirates.
- Agreement with the organization on the preliminary study “The Arab Reference for Quality in Publishing Houses”, which aims to classify good and distinguished publishing houses by granting them a certificate equivalent to the international ISO certificate. To determine the professional standards required for an Arab publisher, January 2019.
- Addressing the organization to urge the Arab ministers of culture to join and ratify the two WIPO conventions in the Internet field for the possibility of blocking pirated sites (August 2020 AD), as well as presenting proposals to protect intellectual property rights to reduce publishers’ losses (July 2020 AD) to the meeting of Arab Ministers of Culture during their conferences.
- Sponsoring the Fifth Virtual Arab Publishers Conference in December 2020, and participating in it with two words by Dr. Hayat Qurmazi, Director of the Culture Department, and Dr. Muhammad Al-Jamni, Director of the Information and Communication Department.
4- Executive office:
The head of the Executive Office and its members participated with the heads of the exhibitions, media, professional development and international relations committees in preparing and preparing for several activities during the session, and the details of these activities were as follows:
- With the support of the Sharjah Book Authority, the Frankfurt Fair participated throughout the years of the session in attendance 2019 AD and 2021 AD, and it was an effective and distinguished participation in several meetings between Arab and international publishers, and by default 2020, to open new marketing outlets and exchange intellectual property rights, and the Association communicated with international cultural bodies to discuss how cooperation. He was making the same preparations to participate in the London - Paris - Bologna exhibitions, but they were canceled in 2020 and 2021, as well as preparations for the Association''s participation in a pavilion in the Cairo, Abu Dhabi, Istanbul Arab, Kuwait and Jeddah exhibitions and to support the participation of member publishers.
- In cooperation with the Arab Forum for Publishers of Children’s Books, a translation of the brochure 12 Reasons for Visiting the Frankfurt International Book Fair 2019 was circulated, its importance, and foreign publishing houses interested in communicating with Arab publishing houses.
- Preparation and then a meeting with the Arab and International Exhibitions Committee and the directors of Arab book fairs, and accordingly studies were requested from regional associations about the size of the losses suffered by publishers in their countries during the pandemic, June 2020.
5- The Fifth Arab Publishers Conference:
In response to the challenges posed by the Corona pandemic to the publishing and culture movement in the Arab world, the Fifth Arab Publishers` Conference was held on December 15 and 16, 2020, by default, entitled “Content Industry and Challenges” to discuss these challenges, and propose solutions and proposals to revitalize the life-related publishing movement, Arab cultural and intellectual property rights protection, with the participation of 27 speakers from experts in paper, digital and audio publishing, officials of international companies and platforms specialized in marketing, distribution and electronic transfer of books, academics, and officials in the Arab and international culture and publishing sector.
The conference included an opening session, five axes and a closing session, which discussed proposed solutions to solve the problems facing the Arab publishing sector under the pandemic, and lay the plan of the Arab Publishers` Association to develop the publishing industry in the future.
The conference came out with sixteen recommendations that benefit the Arab publishing world, the general readership, and those concerned with the publishing industry.
6- Website and mobile application:
It became necessary for the association to develop its means of communication with members and keep pace with the development, so the application of the Arab Publishers` Association was activated on the mobile, and uploaded to the Apple and Android stores, with the aim of communicating with the board of directors of the association and members of the general assembly in particular and all those interested in the field of publishing in general, to see all The Association’s data, news and activities at all levels, including partnerships, initiatives, exhibitions, seminars, conferences and workshops, participation in opinion surveys, and sending suggestions or complaints. search. An indicative file has been circulated to clarify how to use the application / March 2021 AD.
This is with the continuation of updating the website and member data, adding versions on the site for each publisher up to 100 versions with its availability through a multi-information search engine, adding their social networking pages on the site and application, and communicating with members via social media (Facebook - Twitter - Instagram), The number of members participating in their publications on the site reached 114 publishing houses from 18 countries, with a total of 4723 publications.
7- Studying the publishing movement in the Arab world 2015-2019 AD.
The Association launched the first detailed study on the state of publishing in the Arab world, which is the first of its kind in the Arab world, to monitor the reality of the publishing movement in the Arab region for the years from 2015 to 2019, and from Its forms, posing questions and solutions, observing all phenomena, providing a general proposal for discussion on which to build policies according to the reality of the industry, and the movement of increasing/decreasing the numbers of publishing houses, public and private libraries and distribution outlets. It also shows the first challenges of the Arab publishing movement, which is the lack of recognition of publishing as an industry under laws dealing with the industry as a tangible product, as well as the suffering of publishers from counterfeiting and piracy, as this phenomenon has exacerbated, especially after the recent crises that negatively affected the industry. It also included tables that reveal in detail the publishing movement in the Arab world as a whole, and in each country separately, and included tables that reveal the translation movement in numbers, as well as the nature of the published content, and for the first time a study is presented in numbers for Arab book fairs. The study is a material available to researchers and scholars to serve the publishing and scientific research movement, and the association will make available all the materials collected during 10 months of continuous follow-up, from dozens of governments and private agencies specialized, each in his field of specialization, mentioned in the study, and will communicate with decision makers to clarify what the study proposed for use. them in making industry decisions. June 2021 AD.
The study was also translated into English with the support of the European Association, in agreement with IREMMO, a cultural institution specialized in research and studies on the Middle East and North Africa, based in Paris, and will be made available to international institutions, universities, scholars and European publishing houses free of charge via their website, October 2021.
A new study will be issued in mid-2022 AD on the "Arab publishing industry in light of the Corona pandemic for the year 2020-2021AD.
8- Supporting public libraries:
- The initiative to support Palestinian libraries and publishing houses in Al-Quds Al-Sharif, the West Bank and Gaza with the latest publications of Arab publishing houses, through two collection points at the Cairo International Book Fair and Amman International Book Fair, June 2021 AD.
- Reconfiguring the prisoners’ libraries in cooperation with the popular campaign to release prisoners in the occupation prisons, through two collection points at the Amman International Book Fair and the Beirut Arab International Book Fair, July 2019.
- Cooperation with the League of Arab States for the reconstruction of the central library of the University of Mosul - Republic of Iraq, March 2019.
9- The National Reading Project:
Partnership and cooperation with the Scientific Research Foundation in Dubai and its regional branches in Egypt and Africa and the Ministry of Education launched the “National Reading Project” in March 2020 with the aim of developing awareness of the importance of reading, empowering generations with the keys to innovation, and supporting their national and human values. To bring about a renaissance in reading by making it a priority for different groups of society, by enriching libraries, raising the quality of content and output, encouraging institutions and community participation in support of reading, and presenting exemplary cultural projects, noting that the project began in the Arab Republic of Egypt and will be circulated to Arab countries through partnership with the Arab Publishers` Association.
10- The Arab Reading Challenge Project:
The cooperation and partnership of the Arab Publishers` Association with the Arab Reading Challenge project and participation in the development of the publisher’s guide with the challenge team continued, and coordination and follow-up between the association, regional associations and ministries of education in the Arab countries, hundreds of publishing houses benefited from the project as evidenced by the purchases that took place during the previous session and the beginning of 2019 AD.
11- Cooperation with the International Publishers Association (IPA):
- Circulating the periodical messages of the International Publishers Association, which are concerned with cooperation and participation with Arab publishers.
- The Association participated as an observer member in attendance at the meeting of the General Assembly of the International Publishers Association on the sidelines of the Frankfurt International Book Fair, October 2019, and virtually online in 2020 and 2021.
- Supporting the IPA Program in receiving proposals for projects to develop a culture of reading “outside the classroom” in Africa for the year 2022-2023, where $200,000 will be granted for the best ideas aimed at making books available to larger segments of Africans. To enable more of them to access the book through the African Fund for Innovation in Publishing grant program, May 2021.
- Supporting the statement of international associations regarding World Book Day in April 2020 and the repercussions of the spread of the Corona pandemic on the global book industry, authors, publishers, and booksellers are requesting international support by adopting economic stimulus packages to support their publishing sectors.
- Participation in the virtual session organized by the International Publishers Association under the slogan “Protecting the Book Market: Strategies, Challenges and Best Practices in Enforcement of Copyright Laws”, and members of the General Assembly were invited to participate, June 2021 AD.
12-Translation projects:
- Communicating with the management of the Sharjah Authority and circulating the grant of the Sharjah International Book Fair Fund for Translation and Rights, which is presented annually to publishers participating in the professional program organized by the fair before its launch every year.
- Communicating with the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair and circulating the Spotlight on Copyright Program. Concerned with grants for electronic and audio books, and grants for translated books, April 2020.
- Communicating with the Fund to provide support for translation in India, after meeting with them and with several publishers from India during the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair, informing them of the interest of Arab publishers in exchanging translation rights, and reviewing the terms of the assistance program for those Arab publishers who wish to communicate with them, June 2019.
13- Establishment of the Center for Studies and Technical Consultations in the Arab Publishers` Association under the supervision of the President of the Association.
Eighth: The most important activities of the association committees:
1- The Committee to Amend the Basic Law and the Rules of Procedure:
The necessity arose to make amendments in order to facilitate the various activities of the Association, to be in line with the growth of the Association and to develop the performance of the Board of Directors to be more effective, active and positive in taking decisions when necessary. The Board of Directors received several proposals from some members to amend several other items.
Therefore, the regional associations were addressed to discuss the proposals with their members. Over the course of a whole year, the committee compiled and studied all the submitted proposals, then presented them to the Board of Directors twice before submitting them to the General Assembly for approval. Procedures of the General Assembly and the Board of Directors, the formation of committees and their competence to carry out their work with the follow-up of the Board of Directors for their performance and the adoption of their decisions during the session, and they were presented to the Extraordinary General Assembly, which approved the amendments, January 25, 2020.
2- Intellectual Property Committee:
The Committee of the Association had a great share of success, through specific and clear professional procedures in examining, classifying and following-up complaints. The reports of the Committee gained the confidence of several governmental and judicial agencies, and in cooperation with the General Secretariat, the Committee was finalizing some complaints received amicably and by mutual consent between the two parties before resorting to The imposition of any fines or disciplinary penalties, and in accordance with the decisions of the committee, pledges of professional commitment and non-repetition of infringement and records were written between the parties, the plaintiff and the defendant, with an estimated compensation acceptable to both parties.
The complaints of the two disputing parties were transferred from the same country to the local associations in accordance with the internal regulations of the committee. Complaints were followed up even after they were referred to the regional associations.
- During the ninth session, 50 lawsuits were examined, compared to 84 during the previous session, and the committee issued its decisions in all lawsuits through the investigations that were carried out. Disputants over rights, whether publishers or authors.
- The General Secretariat follows up on the issued decisions, and ensures their implementation, including the financial fines that they may include.
- Participation with the Intellectual Property and Competitiveness Department of the League of Arab States in a virtual Arab workshop on intellectual property policies in light of the Corona pandemic, and presented several proposals to combat piracy through major electronic platforms, July 2020.
- Counterfeiters were prevented from participating in Arab exhibitions by circulating the black list after updating it to the exhibition directors, and here we thank most of the directors of Arab exhibitions who cooperated with us in preventing the participation of forgers or forged books who were condemned by the Intellectual Property Committee from participating in the exhibition.
- In cooperation with the Legal Counsel and the General Secretariat, several awareness messages were circulated to members to report the names and links of sites that violate intellectual property laws, to implement Resolution 129 issued by the Intellectual Property Committee regarding their legal follow-up to closing them and applying penalties to them, July 2019, March and July 2020.
- A judicial warning has been sent against the legal representative of Google, Egypt, for violating the display of pirated and forged versions through its search engine, and the case is being pursued. January 2020.
- Because of the increase in the number of piracy and their movement between different Arab countries, which causes heavy losses to publishers, the "Campaign to Fight Intellectual Property Rights Infringement" was for a month, from October 15 to November 15, 2019, to raise awareness about the protection of publishers from all dangers that threaten their interests and impede their success, All regional associations participated in it under the auspices of many Arab bodies, institutions and ministries, 2019.
- Ending a dispute that lasted 12 years between two publishing houses in the courts, in which court rulings were issued, through investigation sessions and investigation requests; The dispute was reconciled and ended in July 2019.
3- Exhibitions Committee:
- At the beginning of the session, the committee conducted a study and developed a list of criteria by which exhibitions are approved by the Arab Publishers` Association. These criteria were discussed during the extraordinary general assembly meeting in January 2020 AD, and members’ suggestions were taken into account.
- Continuous communication with the directors of Arab exhibitions during the session to follow up on the conditions and procedures for publishers’ participation in in-person exhibitions, work to facilitate them, and communicate with them at the beginning of the pandemic to inquire about the status of holding exhibitions, and request special precautionary and logistical measures in the event that publishers ship books and then the exhibition is canceled or postponed.
- Continuing communication with exhibition managers to issue government visas for participants in Arab exhibitions.
- Follow-up and communication with the Sudanese Ministry of Culture to ensure that the Khartoum Book Fair implements the criteria and controls for accrediting Arab exhibitions in the Association, and the Khartoum Fair was re-accredited in 2021.
- The Iraq International Fair was approved, due to the conditions of the Iraqi Republic and in order to support the publishing industry in Iraq, the approved exhibitions were increased to become three: Baghdad Fair, Erbil Fair, and finally, Iraq Fair, January 2021 AD.
- Develop a vision for organizing virtual book fairs and how to implement them, and their advantages and expected and disadvantages, within digital platforms that allow visitors of the virtual pavilion and those interested in reading to browse books, interact and inquire with the representative of the house directly, and discuss it with exhibition managers, June 2020 AD.
- A working paper was made with three hypotheses for three different bookselling systems to overcome the stagnation that occurred during the pandemic, whether through virtual exhibitions, implementing local exhibitions through regional Association, or the exhibition management implementing exhibitions, provided that it is responsible for buying and selling within one hall by agreement. With publishers for a percentage of sales, May 2020.
-Following the easing of censorship on the publications participating in the Kuwait exhibition to allow the participation of publications that have been issued with permission in the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council.
- Supporting many publishing houses that were banned from some exhibitions without giving reasons.
- Appointing a general coordinator for each exhibition by the Exhibitions Committee and with the approval of the General Secretariat in order to follow up and solve the problems of publishers during each exhibition.
- Issuing and updating a monthly list of Arab and international exhibitions International Land and circulated to members, and a report on each exhibition with the pros and cons to inform members and exhibition managements also to commend the services and good and supportive decisions in favor of the publishers, and remove any obstacles in subsequent sessions.
Meetings of the Committee of Directors of Arab Book Fairs:
Cooperation with the directors of Arab book fairs continued, and two meetings were held; The first was in attendance during the Cairo Fair, January 2019, and the second, hypothetically, in July 2020, to discuss improving publishers’ participation in Arab exhibitions and removing recurring or emergency obstacles during some exhibitions, such as the non-participation of publishers from some Arab countries, especially from Syria, Libya, Iraq and Yemen, or the problems of transfers to publishers’ subscriptions to exhibitions Especially from Lebanon and the countries of the Maghreb, and then the problem of canceling most exhibitions during the years 2020 AD and 2021 AD due to the spread of the Corona pandemic, and its disastrous impact on the manufacture and distribution of the Arab book, and the need to search for alternative solutions to market the Arab book resulted in decisions and recommendations, the most important of which are: Resolutions:
- Emphasis on the decisions and recommendations of the exhibition managers’ meetings in the previous session.
- Urging member publishers to respond by updating their database to be a reference for exhibition managers, and to send it to the General Secretariat of the Association.
- Giving priority to participation in Arab exhibitions for publishers who are members of the association, while giving them discounts and privileges decided by the Arab exhibitions administrations. - Taking into consideration what is received from the association to the directors of Arab book fairs regarding the blacklist.
Recommendations:
- The efforts of the Arab exhibitions departments with the authorities concerned with issuing visas to members, with the publishers'' commitment to submit documents within the specified period.
- Rescheduling Arab exhibitions every 5 years, starting from 2021 AD, to prevent conflicting dates.
- Intensifying publicity and advertising for Arab exhibitions in sufficient time before holding the exhibition.
- Allocating professional seminars within the accompanying cultural activity in coordination between the exhibitions departments and the Association.
- The possibility of allocating suitable pavilions for the regional publishers’ associations to display and sell the publishers’ publications in return for paying the rental value, with the names of the participating houses being presented to the exhibition director first.
- During the Corona pandemic, it was agreed on the necessity of health insurance.
- Attempting to reduce 50% of the price of the pavilions in the Arab exhibitions.
- In the event that the exhibition is canceled after the publishers have shipped their books, the organizer must bear the shipping costs back and forth.
- The possibility of setting up local exhibitions with Arab agencies, with the need for exhibition departments to seek to establish virtual exhibitions in the event that there are no traditional exhibitions, with the exhibition management ensuring the display and sale of Arab publishers’ books in one hall, with the publisher giving a discount to the exhibition management.
4- Media and Public Relations Committee:
- Technical direction and assembly for the issuance of the ninth session’s members’ guide, in both Arabic and English, and distributed during Arab and international exhibitions, including contact details for member publishing houses. Which is kept up to date.
- Technical preparation, compilation and electronic issuance of a number of the magazine, May 2021 AD, to express some important activities during the period.
- Media coverage and participation in preparing the pavilions of the Association with the exhibitions that were attended in attendance by preparing posters and publications for Arab and international exhibitions.
- Media coverage and the issuance of statements issued by the various activities of the Association during the session to circulate them to the members and the various media outlets.
5- Professional Performance Development Committee:
The committee responded to several proposals received from publishers to keep pace with the turbulent events that the publishers experienced as a result of the spread of the Corona pandemic, and it had several instructions and directions for members on how to deal during the pandemic, and the committee did the following:
- In cooperation with the Resources Development Committee, a study was conducted and an award was established in the name of Dr. Abdul Aziz Al-Mansour for the Arab Publisher, with a value of $10,000 in 2019 and 2020 and a value of $20,000 in 2021. The award''s board of trustees and the jury took into account its diversity.
- Complete its follow-up to the Arabic Book Guide page on Facebook, which started from the previous session, and since its inception, its followers in the current session have become 4351 followers instead of 2170 followers, and the announcement and definition of the latest publications of members during their participation in exhibitions.
- Conducting a survey about electronic publishing and digital distribution platforms, and 212 participants participated in the survey in April 2020.
- A questionnaire was made about the consequences of the Corona virus on the Arab publisher, and 292 participants from 16 countries participated in the survey, June 2020, and the most prominent results were as follows:
• 50% is the percentage of general publishing, followed by 35% the percentage of publishers of children''s books and educational aids.
• 74% decrease in sales during the first and second quarters of 2020 AD compared to the same period the previous year.
• 75% of the participants had to stop dealing with authors, and 50-67% were forced to stop dealing with designers, language reviewers, translators and paper dealers.
• 34% of employees were laid off from publishing houses that stopped their activities.
• 50% of companies will combine returning to work the old-fashioned way and working from home.
• Exhibition sales represent 53% of the total sales of publishers.
• The percentage of sales of paper books through electronic platforms is 15%, and the percentage of electronic sales is only 10%.
• 56% of publishers are willing to participate in attendance exhibitions even if the pandemic continues and there is no vaccination.
• 77% will participate in virtual exhibitions.
• 51% do not have online platforms, but are interested. And 33% have online platforms.
• 57% need technical assistance in setting up their own platform.
• 70% of publishing houses sell on other platforms.
• 30% change in sales in paper books. And a 24% change in e-book sales in the second quarter of 2020.
• 75% did not try to extend the contracts, while 7% extended the contract for one year, and 3% extended the translation contract for one year.
• 25% percentage decreased Their production ranged between 50-75%, while 24% stopped production, 1% increased their production, and 2% were not affected.
• 91% believe that sales and reading have been affected by the current economic conditions.
- Establishing an open dialogue with the members of the association virtually, and the participants discussed their problems, burdens and proposals with the President of the Association and the Secretary-General, and the session was moderated by the Vice President, May 2020.
- A professional group was established to guide the conversion of books to digital publishing, and the announcement was made, and the best technicians, experts and platforms in the Arab world joined the group, including: The Arab Publisher Portal Week for Electronic Publishing, April 2020, in which inquiries were answered for publishers regarding electronic transfer from Before technicians and experts, whether by e-mail or through virtual seminars, circulating the names and addresses of the most important Arab and international electronic platforms to publishers and communicating with them to obtain special offers for members of the association, March 2020.
- A message containing 10 important tips was circulated when contracting to publish a book protecting the publisher''s right to electronic publishing, December 2019.
- Preparation and implementation of a symposium (intellectual property rights and their impact on the publishing industry) on the sidelines of the Kuwait Exhibition, in cooperation with the National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters, in the presence of the Assistant Secretary-General for the Culture Sector, Dr. Issa Al-Ansari and with the participation of d. Hossam Lotfy Professor of Law - Egypt, Prof. Bassam Al-Asousi, lawyer - Kuwait, d. Maha Bakhit, Minister Plenipotentiary and Director of the Intellectual Property Protection Department at the League of Arab States, November 2019.
6- Resource Development Committee:
- During the session, the committee continued to follow up on the revitalization of the financial resources of the Association Fund, and the follow-up of official Arab donor bodies to support the Association''s activities.
- It has also conducted various sponsorship campaigns in the name of publishing houses for the various activities of the Association, such as the Fifth Arab Publishers Conference by default and the Association magazine in all its issues.
- In order to motivate publishers to produce meaningful and distinct content, it, in cooperation with the Professional Performance Development Committee, conducted a study and implemented an annual award in the name of Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Mansour for the Arab publisher.
7- Dispute Settlement Committee:
In order to confront the contractual violations that the association members are subjected to, a register has been established with the General Secretariat of the Association under the name “Red List.” The complaint is referred to the committee for investigation for those who do not abide by the concluded contracts. This prohibits the members of the local entities that are members of the Arab Association from dealing with him. If it is proven that the complaint is not true, the complainant among the members of the Association shall be referred to the Disciplinary Board, and the inclusion in the register and deletion from it shall be based on the presentation of the Legal Counsel of the Association by a decision of the Board of Directors.
The activities of the committee were divided during the session between two different committees, where its chairman was the first of the session, Dr. Abdul Wahab Al-Radi, who requested his exemption for health reasons at the beginning of 2021 AD from the work of the committee. The first committee received 4 complaints, and the committee worked on examining the issues submitted to it and contacted all the parties and two complaints were resolved, and the other complainants were recommended to resort to the judiciary. Then, in July 2021 AD, it was chaired by Mr. Saeed Abdo, who formed a committee with new members. During this period, the committee worked on two complaints, examined them, and sought to resolve them.
8- Committee on International Relations:
The committee has implemented a sophisticated professional plan in opening international channels between Arab and foreign publishers in several countries and with several prestigious international institutions as follows:
- In cooperation with the Frankfurt International Book Fair, communication channels were opened between Arab publishers and international publishers, and several workshops were carried out with international specialists in the field of exchanging, selling and buying translation rights - March 2021 AD, developing the audio book - June 2021 AD, and how to publish a successful book for children - August 2021 AD.
- A workshop on literary agent is being prepared during 2022.
- It was also agreed that 40 Arab publishers would participate on the Frankfurt platform, to inform international publishers of their publications and data for those who wished to cooperate with international publishers.
- Implementation of a guide in English for the publications of the participating publishers on the Frankfurt platform, in which the standards for translation rights exchange 2021 are available.
- Preparing a list of international cultural institutions that provide grants for translation projects and circulating them in 2021.
- In agreement with the Canadian Publishers Association, several professional meetings were held virtually between a group of Canadian publishers and Arab publishers, where each publisher introduces his books to exchange buying and selling rights, as there is a program to support translation in Canada in which the grant reaches 20 thousand dollars, July-2021 AD.
9- Arab Relations Committee:
- Organizing a discussion session between the members of the Association’s board of directors located in Lebanon and the Lebanese publishers, July 2019, as well as organizing other meetings between the President, the Secretary-General and members on the sidelines of the exhibitions to hear their proposals and problems and work to solve them.
- Follow up on member publishers during their participation in exhibitions, work on solving their problems and collect association subscriptions.
- Assisting in introducing the association to non-member publishing houses and urging them to join.
- Assisting in the supervision, preparation and follow-up of the Association''s pavilions during its participation in the Arab exhibitions.
- Assistance in organizing the Extraordinary General Assembly, January 2020.
- Holding direct or indirect meetings with publishers in exhibitions in Riyadh, Tunis, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Kuwait to overcome the obstacles they encountered.
- Providing discounted hotel offers for publishers'' accommodation during the Arab exhibitions that took place in attendance.
Ninth: Awards:
- In the joint cooperation between the Association and the Egyptian General Book Authority, an award was created in the name of “Best Arab Publisher” among the prizes granted by the Cairo Book Fair, with a value of 40,000 (forty thousand Egyptian pounds), and the two parties bear its value in equal parts, December 2021 AD.
- Cooperation with ALECSO and The International Francophone Organization and the Palestinian Publishers Association, in opening the door for candidacy for Palestinian publishing houses for the Ibn Khaldun-Senghor Prize for Translation, in the 14th session, April 2021 AD.
- Communication with the Sheikh Zayed Book Award, fifteenth session 2020-2021 AD.
- Communicating with the Sharjah Book Authority Awards and the Turjuman Award, and circulating them to member publishers, June 2019, and the Sharjah Award for Children’s Books and People with Visual Needs, January 2020.
- Communication with the Riyadh International Fair Award for Publishing Houses, the award is given to local publishing houses and publishing houses for each branch separately, February 2020.
- Communicating with the Katara Prize for Arabic Narrators and circulating it to members in 2019.
- Sponsoring the Asian Cultural Center Award for Scientific Excellence in the Arab World - Second Session 2019.
- In cooperation with ALECSO and the Moroccan Ministry of Culture, circulating the Arab Young Creative Award in the “Creativity around Jerusalem” axis, the first session 2018-2019 AD.
- Communicate with the Etisalat Award and circulate it.
Tenth: Media data
- Sending an open letter from the President of the Association to Their Majesties and Excellencies Arab Presidents regarding the inclusion of the publishing industry within the various support packages during the Corona pandemic, and among the most important of what was stated in it, is the request to abolish taxes on the publisher sector to relieve many of the burdens on publishers, and direct support to the publishing sector by allocating budgets To purchase books from publishers through the Ministries of Education to strengthen school libraries, the Ministries of Culture, Media and Sports and government universities, April 2020.
- On the same subject, His Excellency Mr. Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, and Dr. Mohamed Ould Amar - Director General of the Arab Organization for Education, Culture and Science "ALECSO", and Dr. Ali bin Tamim, President of the Abu Dhabi Center for the Arabic Language.
- Media statements to thank their Highnesses, rulers of the Emirates and His Majesty the King of Saudi Arabia, as well as directors of Arab exhibitions in Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh and Doha for exempting publishers from subscription fees for pavilions 2020, 2021 and 2022.
- The participation of the president and some members of the board of directors in dozens of television programs to illustrate the economic challenges facing the publishing industry and affecting the popularity of books, and dozens of articles were published in several Arab and international newspapers to inform and raise awareness about the publishing industry’s obstacles and losses borne by publishers, especially during the Corona pandemic, in the year 2020 AD. and 2021 AD.
- Inviting Arab publishers to interact with new developments in the international publishing industry movement and to attend symposiums and workshops organized by the virtual to benefit from them, in order to balance their production between paper, electronic and audio, May 2021 AD.
- Arab and international statements of support to support the Palestinian cause and their legitimate right to confront the Zionist entity, in Arabic and English throughout the years of the session, and the continued adoption of the slogan “Jerusalem is the eternal capital of Palestine” on the addresses of the Association. Media data on precautionary and preventive instructions and measures during the pandemic at the general level, as well as health protocols during exhibitions in particular.
- A statement of support for the brotherly Lebanese people in the incident of the explosion of the port of Beirut, and a statement of support for the brotherly Sudanese people due to the disaster of floods and torrents, in 2020.
- Media statements issued by the Board of Directors’ meetings during the session, and the Fifth Virtual Arab Publishers Conference 2020.
- Media statements of the meetings of the Association’s Board of Directors with the directors of Arab exhibitions and heads of regional associations, January 2019 and July 2020.
- Issuing media statements to celebrate the World Book and Copyright Day, April 23 of each year, and inviting regional Associations to hold celebrations and events to highlight the importance of the book. Celebrating the International Day of the Arabic Language, December 18, calling on all Arab cultural and academic bodies to pay attention to the Arabic language, and urging publishers to implement initiatives to encourage readers to read in Arabic.
- Statement of support for the writer Kamel Shamsi, who received the German Nelly Sachs Prize and who calls for her writings to support the Palestinian people with their just cause. The jury had chosen Shamsi and then decided to cancel the vote and withdraw the award because of Shamsi’s position against the Zionist entity, October 2019.
Eleventh: Working papers:
- The President of the Association, Mohamed Rashad, participated in a symposium on "Challenges of the Paper and Digital Publishing Industry"; Sunday, February 28, 2021 in the conference hall of the Supreme Council of Culture - Cairo, and presented a working paper in the name of (the publishing industry and the negative effects of book counterfeiting on the industry).
- He also participated in a working paper on behalf of the publishing industry in the Arab world - (Past. Present. Future) - Conference on "Endowment Libraries - Innovations and Renewal Trends in Libraries" in Madinah - November 2019.
Respected colleagues...
Since the Board of Directors of the Arab Publishers Association took over the ninth session, the members of the Board have made time and effort to try as much as possible to be impartial and objective, while bearing the costs of travel at their own expense to attend Board meetings, or meetings with some officials to resolve obstacles, or to represent the Association in some seminars and despite the continuous and tireless effort and follow-up, we tried as much as possible to fulfill what we promised. Arabi.
We hope that we have fulfilled the trust that was entrusted to us in the best way, and we were able to serve you, achieve some of your ambitions, and provide you and the publishing industry with what supports improving the status of the Arab publisher and alleviating its burdens, and what contributes to the development and improvement of your professional expertise as much as possible.
During this session, I wish the colleagues in the next session to complete the projects and recommendations that the current council could not carry out with success.
God grants success,
General Secretary President of the Association
Bachar Chebaro Mohamed Rashad