The 40th Session of the Cairo International Book Fair is to host the United Arab Emirates (UAE) this year as the guest of honor. Choosing UAE on the part of Egypt's Ministry of Culture comes in an appreciation of UAE active cultural role and mirrors the deeply-rooted relations binding the peoples of Egypt and the UAE.

The UAE thus becomes the first Arab country as the fair's guest of honor, particularly as the cultural file submitted by UAE is abounding in cultural events, seminars and lectures, shedding light on the development of the Arab cultural movement. Minister of Culture Farouq Hosni received the UAE Ambassador in Cairo where they tackled means of boosting cooperation in cultural field, in addition to discussing the UAE expected participation in the fair's activities.

It is expected however to allocate the first three days of the fair to both Arab and foreign participants, allowing them an opportunity to exchange intellectual property rights, specially publishers of the UAE to give them a spacious room to conclude deals with Arab and foreign publishers.

The UAE cultural programme includes displaying its experience in the field of E-books, together with holding a number of literary seminars on the historical relations binding both Egypt and the UAE. On top of such seminars the plastic arts in UAE will be on the spotlight and the literary movement in UAE will be reviewed as well. The programme also includes displaying a number of documentaries on UAE along with holding an exhibition on the Arabic calligraphy.