In compliance with one of the Institute’s major strategies in the field of literature for this year, the IRL is participating in a professional programme at the Cairo International Book Fair, to create new opportunities in the Arab publishing sector. The programme aims to create new alliances for translation and editing by providing participants with an immersion in this market and its dynamics.

Besides participating in this programme, the Institute will meet with publishers, agents, and translators from the Arabic publishing sector with an interest in Catalan literature. This will create new opportunities for future projects.

The Cairo International Book Fair is the oldest literary fair in the Arab world and is now in its 55th edition. This year, 1,200 publishers from 70 countries will take part, which is 153 more than last year. Norway is the guest of honour. The fair is notable because publishers located in Cairo generate around 60% of the books printed in Arabic in the world. Additionally, the Egyptian General Book Organisation, the fair's organiser, is the largest publisher in the Arab world. The fair is a key centre for Middle Eastern literature and culture, and it includes cultural seminars, film screenings, theatre shows, art exhibitions and music concerts that foster intellectual exchange.

The IRL plans to participate for the second consecutive year in the Sharjah International Book Fair in November, besides organising a seminar on literary translation from Catalan into the Arabic language during the second half of the year. This is part of the continued promotion of translations from Catalan into Arabic. Publishers in the Arabic language will also participate in the Llull Fellowship, which is organised every year by the IRL. The programme is aimed at foreign professionals to make them aware of Catalan literature and its publishing sector.