The activities of the Cairo International Book Fair, the biggest cultural event in the Arab world, started yesterday, where a great number of publishing houses together with a galaxy of both foreign and Arab intellectuals are taking part. Thus we are here before a great cultural event, perhaps seasonal, but with undeniable wide-scope artistic, literary, cultural and scientific influence.

Ever since its establishment in 1969 the fair, as a matter of fact, has been achieving great accomplishments that have been accumulated over years to render this eye-catching success. The idea first immerged in 1964 at the hands of the State Information Service (SIS) Chairman who adopted the slogan "a book every 6 hours" In 1977 I warned against turning the fair into a market, and thus suggested conducting a questionnaire with a view to figuring out the fair cultural gravity and getting acquainted with the viewpoints of its visitors.

The questionnaire then yielded indicators and outcome that have been taken into consideration while mapping out the plan of developing the fair. Thus the Cairo International Book Fair has become one of the most important fairs at the international level, enriching the cultural movement not only at the Arab arena, but also at the world scene.

No wonder, the fair is deemed to be a graphic mirror to Egypt's role since the march of Ancient Egyptian civilization; hence the significance of the written word has increased. Since then the importance of the book has become at the very forefront of the civilization of Egypt, which left no stone unturned to occupy its due cultural role. And here it is the fair stands evident to Egypt's irreplaceable role in furthering and buttressing the cultural movement in the world.

By Dr. Ahmed Youueif Al-Koraei
"Al-Ahram"