The memorable founder of the United Arab Emirates, the late Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, has instilled a set of noble values, remarkably tolerance and peaceful coexistence among nations, which originated from our unified country to embrace the wider horizons of the Arabs and all nations. It is those values which The Sheikh Zayed Book Award is determined to disseminate and eternize; in addition, the Award is intended to promote creativity in the scientific, literary, artistic and human domains with a sound emphasis on the liberty of creators; and to care for the young talent and energize their promising potentials based on a deeply-rooted identity and through an open-minded, enlightened and cultural interaction with all nations.

The status of culture across the entire Arab countries is pretty bad off. Our population amounts to about 300 million, yet, even the bestsellers sell no more than 5000 issues from one end to the other in the Arab World. Worse enough, the 2003 Human Development Report, reveals that the Arab countries have altogether produced but 5.600 books in one year against 100.000 books in North America and 40.000 books in Latin America and the Caribbean countries.
I think you can see eye to eye with me on this embarrassing benchmark. Therefore, we do hope that the Award would contribute to bridging part of the gap of the Arab cultural deficiency. That's why the Award stipulated that the nominated books should have been produced two years earlier.
On the other hand, the UNESCO Report of 2005 points out that the average time an Arab citizen spends on reading is no more than two minutes per annum versus 6 hours for the European peer.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is irrelevant to blame this painful situation on either the Orient or the Occident; we ourselves bear the entire responsibility away from the theory of conspiracy and without laying the charge upon the others.
In fact, the burden is very heavy but we have to bear it altogether hoping that the Emirate of Abu Dhabi would actively lend a hand in this concern. The event we celebrate today is just the first promising drops of the rain expected from Abu Dhabi.
Wish you all the best.

From the very moment of its establishment in recognition of the late Sheikh Zayed Bin sultan Al Nahyan and in honor of the Arab and international culture and intellect and all creators across the world, the Sheikh Zayed Book Award has been favored with great heed and unlimited support by His Highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the President of the UAE.

On the other hand, the UAE cultural life has been well boosted thanks to the remarkable attention and persistent follow-up on the part of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and the Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces. Awarding the winners today is not just an opportunity to honor culture; even more, it is a festival of intellect and creativity, an international opportunity of deliberation for different intellectual schools, and a unique forum where global cultures and strategies can interface, cooperate and lead a two-way dialogue for the sake of elevating the Arab cultural status, promoting the industry of publishing and giving momentum to the translation from and to Arabic.

I would like to confirm, on this occasion, that the intensive and effective participation in all Award categories, in addition to your distinguished elite attendance today is a source of great support, which would enrich the Award in its recent and forthcoming sessions. Therefore, thank you for much and welcome to Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.

Within a short period of time, the Sheikh Zayed Book Award received 1224 nominations
from inside and outside the Arab world. This figure proves that the Award has, in fact, gained a distinguished rank among the reputed Arab and International Awards that celebrate creativity and scholars. Therefore, we pledge not to spare the least effort in order to maintain the Award's prestige and to guarantee its neutrality, objectivity and credibility forever.

The universality of the Award created a climate of feverish competition on a wide scale among hundreds of creative Arab and non-Arab figures. Now as the results are made public, I congratulate the winners and extend my cordial thanks to all candidates for supporting and enriching the Award wishing them all the best.
best of luck on the coming occasions”.

Finally, I would take the opportunity to extend my profound thanks and appreciation to the Award Higher Committee, the Advisory Council, and the members of the Selection Committees for their great assistance to bring about the success of the Award. Besides, their sincere efforts contributed a lot to the advancement of literature, arts and culture in the region, and to the establishment of the Award's international branding in order to steer it towards more creativity and distinction.

Thank you for your attendance and interest.

Rashed Al Ureimi
Secretary General
Sheikh Zayed Book Award