By Mahmoud Aly
photo credit: Ahmed Saber
“Muscat book fair is a prominent cultural platform in the Arab Gulf”
“Egyptian-Omani relations are an ideal model for Arab integration…”
Tell us more about the Omani-Egyptian relations?
Egypt and Oman have always held very good and stable relations. I always say that these relations are a perfect model for the Arab-Arab relations. Recently, there have been constant official meetings, especially between foreign ministers, to discuss regional issues.
Omani foreign Minister Yussuf Alawi has visited Cairo several times, so did his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry. Last year, the joint Omani-Egyptian committee convened under the leadership of both foreign ministers.
Moreover, there is a major cooperation in other fields; especially in education. The large number of Egyptian teachers travelling annually to work in Omani schools; e.g., last year their number reached nearly 500. There are also a number of Omani students in Egyptian universities.
And as for the legal consulting fields, Oman always prefer to hire Egyptian legal consultants.
How about the Economic aspect…What do you have to say?
There are nearly 40 to 50 Egyptian businesses that operate in the Sultanate. Among these are: Arab Contractors, Sawiris Group, and Arab Engineers Co. There are also a number of joint ventures; although they are not as big as we hope it to be, we aspire to boost these in the upcoming period.
How big is the Egyptian-Omani trade exchange?
Egyptian-Omani trade exchange is nearly $400m. Oman invests in Egypt in fields of oil, tourism, and light industry. Moreover, Oman’s sovereign wealth fund (SWF) always seeks new investment projects and perfect opportunities to enter Egyptian market; that’s why it constantly communicates with Egyptian concerned authorities and private sector to achieve such goal.
Muscat International Book Fair 2016 is an outstanding cultural forum…
What do you think of the Arab contribution to it?
Muscat Book Fair is one of the most important fairs in Gulf; as Arab authors always praise Omani readers’ passion to buy books, and the huge turnout of the fair which makes them eager to participate. Muscat Book Fair is deemed an outstanding cultural beacon. Oman seeks in each of the fair’s rounds to create an atmosphere fit for all cultural sects of different trends to come together. A large number of publishing houses specialized in various fields whether scientific, social, political…etc., are taking part in this years’ fair either through direct presence or by agency.
Gulf participation is very important, same as that of any Arab state, most importantly because many gulf authors will be present at this event. He added that Muscat Book Fair is considered one of the most active fairs regarding number of contributions, and amount of sales and purchase.
Muscat Book fair is a perfect event for all those interested in culture, reading, and literature. It is also a chance for all Omani people, students to snap up as many books as they can; especially with the distinct contribution of many prominent Arab authors.
How do you see the broad Egyptian participation in Muscat Book Fair 2016?
Muscat International Book Fair is an important opportunity to reflect the close Egyptian-Omani relations. I have to say that I am very happy for this year’s remarkable Egyptian participation.
I am very pleased with the large number of Egyptian authors participating in the fair. Few days ago the Sultanate of Oman has also widely contributed to Egypt›s International Book Fair; the thing it has constantly done for the past 25 years. All this is but an indicator of how strong and deep Egyptian-Omani relations are; especially in the cultural and literary field. I assure you that I am very satisfied with the time I spent working on exchanging expertise in this field between both countries.
