Bodour chairs Sharjah Book Authority Board meeting

Sheikha Bodour Bint Sultan Al Qasimi, Chairperson of the Sharjah Book Authority (SBA), chaired the fifth meeting of the SBA Board of Directors at its headquarters in Sharjah.

The meeting, attended by board members and several senior executives, discussed the SBA’s most significant achievements during 2025 and reviewed its strategic plan for 2026.

Attendees included Ahmed Bin Rakkad Al Ameri, CEO of the SBA; Youngsuk Chi, Chairman of Elsevier; John Ingram, Chairman of Ingram Content; Marcus Doll, Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees of PEN America (via video conference); and Gaurav Shrinagesh, CEO for India and Southeast Asia and a member of the Global Executive Committee at Penguin Random House.

Also present at the meeting were Abdullah Al Owais, Chairman of the Sharjah Department of Culture; Dr Sultan Al Amimi, Chairman of the Emirates Writers Union (EWU); Abdulaziz Al Musallam, Chairman of the Sharjah Institute for Heritage (SIH); Fahad Al Maamari, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Emirates Library; Marwa Al Aqroubi, Executive Director of the House of Wisdom and President of the UAE Board on Books for Young People; Rashid Al Kous, Executive Director of the Emirates Publishers Association and Director of the Emirates Rights Management Association; and Abdulaziz Taryam.

In her opening remarks, Sheikha Bodour commended the efforts of the Board members and the team in continuing to enhance Sharjah’s global standing as a leading centre for knowledge, culture, and creativity, emphasising that this year marked a pivotal moment in the Authority’s journey and the Arab publishing industry.

She stated, “Sharjah reaffirms its leadership in building bridges of global cultural communication, from the historic partnership agreement with UNESCO to digitise its World Archives, preserving millions of pages of humanity’s memory, to our academic and cultural partnerships with leading universities in Portugal and Italy.”

Sheikha Bodour added, “The Sharjah International Publishers Conference has become one of the most important global platforms for rights exchange and professional collaboration, while initiatives such as the Sharjah Fund for Sustainable Publishing’s ‘Innovation Track’ continue to shape the future of digital publishing. These achievements reflect our collective commitment to empowering knowledge, enhancing the Arab presence, and solidifying Sharjah’s role as a driver of innovation and cultural exchange in the world.”

During the meeting, Ahmed Bin Rakkad Al Ameri presented a comprehensive overview of the Authority’s most prominent achievements during the year and outlined its vision for the next phase. Key milestones for 2025 included the signing of a digital agreement with UNESCO to document and archive its global archives and integrate them into the Sharjah Public Libraries system, a project that underscores the Emirate’s leadership in preserving knowledge and human cultural heritage.

He also presented the achievements of the Sharjah Literature Agency, which included signing more than 30 translation rights agreements into 10 languages and developing a new rights management system that facilitated buying and selling processes and enhanced the global representation of authors.

The year witnessed the opening of the Centre for Arabic Studies at the University of Coimbra in Portugal and the digitisation of the historic Joanina Library, further strengthening cultural and academic cooperation between Sharjah and Europe.

The Sharjah International Publishers Conference was the most successful in its history, with the participation of 1,599 publishers and literary rights agents from 116 countries, reinforcing Sharjah’s position as a global publishing capital.

The 44th Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF) also continued to solidify its status as the world’s largest fair for buying and selling publishing rights for the fifth consecutive year.

The meeting also reviewed performance updates across the Authority’s departments and affiliated entities. Saif Al Zari, Executive Director of Digital Transformation at the Sharjah Book Authority, presented on customer relationship management systems and performance indicators, which have enhanced institutional efficiency and service quality.

WAM