The Alexandria Book and Information Technology Fair is scheduled to kick off on Monday, 3 October, at 7pm. The fair will be inaugurated by Minister of Culture Emad Abou Ghazi, Minister of Communications and Information Technology Mohamed Salem, and Alexandria Governor Osama El-Fouly. The event, which will be held at the iconic Bibliotheca Alexandrina and on exhibition land in Alexandria's Al-Soyouf area until 16 October, is sponsored by the General Egyptian Book Organisation (GEBO) in cooperation with the Egyptian Publishers Association (EPA). According to EPA member Mohamed Hamed, 85 Egyptian publishers are scheduled to participate in the event.GEBO, for its part, will exhibit some 4,000 book titles covering all fields. Some 70 technology companies are also expected to take part, said Adel Khalifa of the Arab Union for Electronic Publishing. The event will also feature a weeklong conference on modern technology and how it pertains to the fields of education, publishing, internet crime and intellectual property rights. The fair will also feature various competitions, with prizes for the winners. Notably, Saudi Arabia is the only other Arab country participating in the event. On its opening day, the fair will open to the public at 7pm. It will subsequently be open to visitors from 11am to 11pm except on Fridays, when it will open after noon prayers. Children can enter for free.
