Sheikha Bodour Al Qasimi.

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

The 12th annual Publishers Conference organised on the sidelines of the 41st Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF) is bringing together two publishing industry stalwarts, Bodour Al Qasimi, President of the International Publishers Association (IPA) and Markus Dohle, CEO of the largest trade book publisher - Random House, to engage in an exciting fireside chat on the emerging industry trends and share their expert visions of the future as they see it unfold.

On Nov.1, Bodour Al Qasimi and Dohle will hold a wide-ranging conversation on key industry themes including the changing market landscape and managing thorough industry challenges. Bodour Al Qasimi, who has leveraged her exemplary vision and global partnerships during her IPA presidency to design the InSPIRE initiative – an unprecedented and hugely successful strategy in bringing the global publishing community together to adopt a truly unified multi-stakeholder vision of the industry for the post-pandemic era – will engage with Dohle on important topics like digital transformation, freedom to publish, and diversity and inclusion.

As Chief Executive Officer of Bertelsmann’s $4b book publishing division Penguin Random House, Dohle has been a leader in global publishing for nearly 30 years. He has overseen transformative mergers, led Penguin Random House’s recovery from the global pandemic, and helped broker agreements that secured the rights to the memoirs of luminaries like U2’s lead singer Bono and Michelle Obama.

 Last year, the professional conference brought together 546 publishers and literary agents from 83 countries.

Bodour Al Qasimi, IPA President, noted: “As the publishing industry comes out of a pandemic to build a better, more resilient future for all, knowledge on how successful businesses are navigating challenges and undergoing digital transformations, will be key to industrywide growth and recovery. Discussions and expertise exchange serve as the lifeblood of our industry, and now more than ever, we need to put our heads together to build a resilient, future-proof sector.”

Ahmed Bin Rakkad Al Ameri, Chairman, SBA, said: “SIBF Publishers Conference started as a regional nexus for global industry professionals to network and further business interests. Today, it is an equally vital platform for thought leadership where the future course of the publishing industry is collectively envisioned by wide-ranging stakeholders. We are pleased to host Bodour Al Qasimi and Markus Dohle for a discussion that will share latest industry intelligence and shine light on actionable strategies to unite in our efforts to support and promote this important industry.”

Markus Dohle, CEO, Random House, said: “I am deeply honoured to have received an invitation to attend the Sharjah International Book Fair’s 12th annual Publishers Conference for a fireside conversation with Bodour Al Qasimi. I look forward to spending time in Sharjah and learning more about the long-term growth possibilities in the Gulf region, from increasing readership to publishing local voices.”

The 12th edition of the Publishers Conference will run its course from Oct.30 - Nov.1, in Expo Centre Sharjah, ahead of the inauguration of SIBF which will open the doors to its 41st edition in Expo Centre Sharjah with the slogan ‘Spread the Word’.

The three-day conference will host over 12 discussions led by senior professionals and experts who will share their views on ways to capitalise on key emerging business trends in digital publishing and the audiobook market, discuss supply chain challenges and present solutions, and shine light on emerging opportunities in translations, multilingual publishing and popular genres like manga.

Recently, Sheikha Bodour Al Qasimi addressed delegates at the Forum Edita publishing conference in Barcelona, Spain. Bodour used her speech to highlight issues of digitisation and advanced tech, copyright, sustainability, censorship and freedom to publish.