The Arab Book Award has signed a co-operation agreement with the Arab Publishers Association to deepen ties between the two bodies and boost the standing of Arab books on the regional and international stage.
The pact, signed at a press conference at the Qatar Press Centre (QPC), covers publishing support, joint events and seminars, and the exchange of expertise between the two organisations.
It builds on efforts to support Arab authors and publishers and to raise the profile of Arab titles at book fairs across the region and beyond.
The agreement was signed by Arab Book Award executive director Dr Naji al-Sharif and Dr Aisha Jassim al-Kuwari, chair of the Arab Relations Committee at the Arab Publishers Association, in the presence of officials from both institutions.
Dr al-Sharif said the agreement grew out of talks he began with Arab Publishers Association president Mohamed Rashad to build an effective partnership between the two organisations.
He noted that the Award is steadily expanding its partnership network across the Arab world, citing an earlier agreement with Oman’s Zubair Corporation and further deals in the pipeline with institutions in several Arab countries.
He described the Arab Publishers Association as a key partner for the Award, given its work protecting the rights of Arab writers and publishers, promoting the publishing sector, and representing Arab books at fairs across the region and internationally.
The co-operation, Dr al-Sharif said, covers support for publishing by individual authors and institutions, joint cultural activities and seminars, and shared expertise, with the broader goal of strengthening the Arab publishing industry and widening opportunities for Arab literary work to reach readers at home and abroad.
Speaking to Gulf Times, Dr al-Kuwari called the agreement an important step toward closer collaboration between two institutions devoted to books and publishing, opening the door to joint initiatives that benefit authors, publishers and the Arab book itself.
She noted that the Arab Publishers Association, founded in 1962, brings decades of institutional experience to the partnership, positioning it well to carry out joint activities, seminars and research with the Arab Book Award, and to raise the visibility of Arab books at cultural events across the region and internationally.
Dr al-Kuwari also praised the QPC as a natural home for both books and the press.
She also addressed the pressures facing books amid digital transformation, describing an “attention economy” in which books must compete not just for readers but for attention amid a flood of content and platforms.
Dr al-Kuwari pointed to strong turnout at fairs such as the Doha International Book Fair as evidence that printed books retain their value, arguing that e-books, audiobooks and other digital formats should be seen as complementary tools rather than rivals to print.
Arab Book Award media adviser Dr Hanan al-Fayyad said that supporting Arab books is central to preserving Arab cultural identity, and that the Award backs original works by individuals, research centres and publishing houses.
She highlighted the role of specialised awards, including those for translation and children’s literature, and stressed that the real challenge lies in sustaining reading habits amid fast-changing content consumption.
Qatar National Library (QNL) director Ibrahim al-Bu-Hashim al-Sayed, who is also vice-president of the Arab Publishers Association, said printed books remain resilient despite digital competition, and that libraries must play an active role in keeping younger generations engaged – citing the QNL’s outreach to schools and youth through volunteer reading initiatives.
QPC director Sadiq Mohammad al-Ammari pointed to the contradiction between the Arab world’s reputation as a reading culture and the decline of print media in several countries.
High book-fair sales, he cautioned, do not necessarily reflect actual reading rates, since many buyers do not finish what they purchase.
The real challenge, al-Ammari said, is turning reading into a habit sustained throughout the year, not just embedding the printed book, but embedding reading itself as a lasting cultural practice.