Egypt's Minister of Culture Ines Abdel-Dayem met her Senegalese counterpart Abdullah Jub and the Ambassador of Senegal in Egypt Elie Saibi on 23 January at the 51th Cairo International Book Fair (CIBF), which opened on 22 January and continues until 4 February.

During the meeting, the Senegalese minister praised the Egyptian culture’s role in Africa, and said that a series of celebrations is being held in the Senegalese capital to consolidate cultural relations between the two countries.

Minister Jub also expressed keenness on benefiting from the Egyptian experience in various creative fields, including on national libraries, printing PHD theses for Senegalese researchers in Egypt, translation and the exchange of authors in the celebration of the International Day of Book, as well as offering scholarships to Senegalese students at the Academy of Arts. The minister also expressed admiration for the organisational measures of the 51th CIBF and expressed gratitude for the choice of his country as a guest of honour for this year's edition, which is titled, 'Egypt, Africa, the Culture of Diversity.'

Present at the meeting were a number of senior officials from the Ministry of Culture, including head of the Academy of Arts Ashraf Zaky and head of the General Organisation of Cultural Palaces Ahmed Awwad. Members of the delegation discussed increasing cooperation between the two countries in the fields of culture, arts and integral partnerships in all creative fields.

Minister Abdel-Dayem said, "the relationship between Egypt and Senegal is one of the distinctive forms of cooperation between the peoples of the African continent."

The minister also welcomed the Senegalese invitation to participate in the Dakar Biennale for Arts in 2020, and also accepted the invitation for Egypt to be the guest of honour at the Dakar International Book Fair to be held in 2021. She added that a discussion was held between the two sides to prepare for a protocol of intellectual and cultural cooperation in order to organise mutual activities that reinforce relations between the two nations and allow the exchange of knowledge in the cultural scenes in the two societies.