Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed, member of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council and Chairman of Abu Dhabi Executive Office, on Thursday visited the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair.
Sheikh Khaled toured several exhibition stands at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre, as well as the "Reading is Seeing" section of the event, which is dedicated to the fair's Cultural Personality of the Year, Egyptian author Taha Hussein.
Sheikh Khaled also talked to pupils about the importance instilling a love of reading.
The event, which is organised by the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre, is expected to attract more than 150,000 visitors. About 1,130 international, regional and local publishing houses from about 80 countries are taking part.
The events are also set to feature more than 1,000 speakers from 40 countries. They will exchange cultural views and share literary ideas in several panel discussions, seminars and literary, cultural and academic events.
Germany is the guest of honour at the fair, with a series of 40 events planned to highlight cultural ties between the UAE and Germany.
German writers and thinkers are set to take part in workshops for schools and children.
President Sheikh Mohamed on Tuesday allocated a Dh6 million ($1.6m) grant to purchase books and educational materials from the fair, which runs until May 29.
The books will be distributed to school libraries across the UAE to support the publishing and education sectors.
