On behalf of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, Minister of Culture and Information Dr. Abdulaziz Khoja opened the first Arab Publishers Conference in Riyadh yesterday. The conference, held under the theme “The Future of Publication in the Arab World,” was organized by the Union of Arab Publishers in cooperation with the Saudi Publishers Society.

Addressing the gathering, Dr. Khoja stressed the importance of literacy and the spread of culture through published material to any advanced society. “I hope that this conference will be a genuine breakthrough towards an organized publication of Arab books that enrich our own cultural arena and fulfill the aspirations of our peoples to reach an advanced cultural level, leading to construction and development,” he said.