General Information

Discover new business horizons

The Abu Dhabi International Book Fair is flourishing. That’s because Abu Dhabi offers the best access to industry professionals and key market players in the Middle East and North Africa. With more than 500,000 titles on display each year, the possibility for new business opportunities is endless.

At the centre of future growth and market potential

Abu Dhabi is rapidly becoming the hub of the Arab book trade, and the point of reference for booksellers, publishers and distributors in the Arabian Peninsula and Gulf region.

Professional programmes and a focus on rights:

Taking a cue from the overwhelmingly positive reactions to the professional programme Abu Dhabi International Book Fair introduced a number of new initiatives aimed at encouraging the development of a robust publishing industry in the MENA region.

Over 220 letters of intent for subsidised licensing deals were signed under the ‘Spotlight on Rights’ scheme at the 2010 book fair, which was launched at the 60th Frankfurt Book Fair in October 2008. The subsidies fund the translation of texts to and from the Arabic language as well as financing rights agreements across national borders within the Arab world.

At the 2011ADIBF visitors will have in store an array of professionally oriented seminars and panel discussions. On offer will be sessions aimed at providing an in-depth look at the current state of publishing in the Arab world and the Middle East, covering topics such as the Arab Book Market and rights trading. Other programmes focusing on using social networing platforms to network, panels for agents and much more.

Professional programmes will continue to play a key role at the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair.

Progressive, tolerant and culturally enthusiastic

Development in Abu Dhabi is moving quickly. Major governmental initiatives include substantial investments in culture, and key issues among these are reading and literacy. With culture comes tolerance, and Abu Dhabi is known throughout the region for its commitment to rule of law, lack of censorship and open-minded multicultural intellectual exchange.

Jumaa al-Qubaisi, Director of the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair, welcomes publishing professionals to the progressive and peaceful United Arab Emirates. Welcome to Abu Dhabi, where culture meets commerce: at the crossroads of world publishing.

Focus on rights

The Spotlight on Rights initiative will continue in 2012 after an extremely successful spell in 2011 with 200 letters of intent being received at the fair. The scheme will be open to stand-holders and officially registered trade visitors attending the ADIBF in 2012. Subsidies of up to US $ 1,000 per title will be awarded and contribute towards the publishers licencing rights to and from the Arabic language, or in some cases, from one Arab country to another. Applications may be submitted for books for which initial discussions take place at the ADIBF, or for projects which were under review prior to the event but where detailed licensing discussions take place at the ADIBF. The judging panel reserves the right to group a series of short children’s books containing limited amounts of text into a single application, which would then be considered for a single subsidy.
To know more about the SoR please email rights@kitab.ae

Business and Rights Centre | Arab Rights Showcase

Business and Rights Centre is a dedicated venue to offer the publishers the forum to conduct business negotiations and sign contracts in an all businessenvironment. Within the centre you will have the SoR Desk as well as e-services and facilities required to do business and ensure your deals run as impeccably as possible. In 2011 rights deals were also negotiated for various Illustrators and Cookbooks.
The Business and Rights Centre will stage the Arab Rights Showcase - featuring the best in new publications in Arabic for which foreign rights are available.

eZone and Service Providers Area

The eZone and Service Providers Area is a dedicated area for new technology and digital content. It is the THE place for content developers and service providers to showcase their products and services to the Middle Eastern publishing community. In 2012 the eZone will continue to be the hub for all digital media related activities, events and discussion.

Illustrators’ Corner

The launch of the Illustrators’ Corner at the 2011 ADIBF witnessed an overwhelming attendance and support from the Illustrator community. With 21 exhibitors coming from 13 countries, the Illustrators’ Corner was undoubtedly bustling with creative and intellectual sessions. In 2012 ADIBF will further enhance this venue and offer a day long workshop, a diverse range of brainstorming sessions and a forum to share best practices in this most popular sector.

Targeted match-making sessions

The Professional Programme and the team is trained to assist you in bringing together potential business partners seeking to boost their business networks beyond the Arab World. Dedicated sessions, meetings and panels are aimed to make your experience productive while making your visit to the ADIBF as dynamic and effective as possible. In 2011, over 600 professionals attended the diverse range of carefully organised 26 panels. Planned and facilitated match making sessions between Arab and International publishers as well as between publishers from the region and international agents who are market leaders in their field will all add value to your experience at the ADIBF 2012.

Business meets culture

ADIBF is a meeting point of an array of activities and events tailored to the taste of all our visitors and guests.

Enjoy the literary exchange at the KITAB Sofa with our prestigious authors from the international and Arab world. Join in the debates at the Discussion Forum and be a part of interactive sessions and panels addressing a wide range of topics
from reading clubs, strong Arab women writers in publishing, panels on “from text to screen” and much more. Also forming a part of our rich Cultural Programme is the Poetry Forum which was host to the much acclaimed Saudi poetess Hissa Hilal in 2011. The Show Kitchen with live cooking demonstrations by internationally renowned chefs continues to entertain our guests since its inception!

Sharing best practices in the education sector

At the ADIBF we provide educators and educational publishers a forum in which to come together to share best practices.

In 2011 The Education Chapter 3 (TEC3): “Literature, Literacy and Learning” sessions offered vast insights and encouraged an interactive debate amongst librarians, teachers, and decision makers in education as well as international
educational publishers.

TEC4 in 2012: will feature more market presentations from around the Arab World, as well as a match-making session between educational/academic publishers and institutional buyers.