Media
Press Release: The Arab Publishers Association Meets with Dr. Mohamed Mehdi Bensaid
Minister of Youth, Culture, and Communication – Kingdom of Morocco
Today, Saturday, May 2, 2026, His Excellency Dr. Mohamed Mehdi Bensaid, Minister of Youth, Culture, and Communication of the Kingdom of Morocco, met with the Arab Publishers Association and the International Publishers Association on the sidelines of the 31st edition of the International Book and Publishing Fair in Rabat. 
The meeting was attended by Dr. Ghazlan Darous, Director of Books, Libraries, and Archives at the Ministry of Youth, Culture, and Communication of the Kingdom of Morocco; Mr. Mohamed Rashad, President of the Arab Publishers Association; Mss. Ghvantsa Jobava, President of the International Publishers Association; Mr. José Borghino, Secretary-General of the International Publishers Association; Mr. Ahmed Rashad, Member of the Executive Committee of the International Publishers Association; Mr. Tarek Sleiky, President of the Moroccan Publishers Association; and Mr. Hicham Alami, President of the Professional Union of Publishers in Morocco.
The meeting was held following the Digital Publishing and Artificial Intelligence seminar, in cooperation with the International Publishers Association, the Moroccan Publishers Association, and the Professional Union of Publishers in Morocco, which aims to strengthen cooperation between international and Moroccan publishers, discuss the future of digital publishing, how to protect intellectual property rights, and how to open new horizons for both authors and publishers.
The International Publishers Association expressed its thanks to the Kingdom of Morocco and the Minister for amending the Intellectual Property Law to align with modern developments in intellectual property rights in the context of artificial intelligence.
Mr. Mohamed Rashad, President of the Arab Publishers Association, presented the issue of the delay in the shipment of Egyptian books and some Arab publishing houses' books shipped with them, and called for intervention with the relevant authorities to expedite the entry of the shipment to the Casablanca port, along with any possible support for the publisher whose books arrived in the second half of the exhibition.
Rashad also raised the situation of Lebanese publishers under the current circumstances, which have resulted in the bombing and destruction of several publishing houses and their book warehouses, which contained thousands of books in various fields of science and knowledge, following the brutal attack carried out by the Israeli occupation forces. The President of the Arab Publishers Association called on everyone to quickly extend a helping hand and provide financial and literary support to Lebanese publishers.
For his part, His Excellency the Minister confirmed his support for the Arab Publishers Association's request and his keenness to remove obstacles for all Arab publishers.
President of the Association
Mohammad Rashad