The Ambassador of Egypt to Serbia Amr Aljowaily participated this week in the celebration of the International Day of the Arabic Language, which was organised for the first time by the Council of Arab Ambassadors in Belgrade and the Centre for Arabic Culture at the National Library of Serbia.

Present at the celebration was the Serbian Assistant Minister of Culture of International Affairs Asja Draca Muntean, who delivered a speech on behalf of the Serbian government, and Ambassador of Palestine Mohamed Nabhan, dean of the Diplomatic Corps, who presented the activities of the Council of Cultural Ambassadors in the field of culture.

The celebration also included presentations by Director of the Arabic Culture Centre Ena Pavlovic and by students of literature, as well as poetry recitals from around the Arab world.

Aljowaily presented prizes to the three winners in a competition for the International Day of the Arabic Language, which were invitations from Haitham El-Hajj, chairman of the Egyptian General Book Authority, to attend the Cairo International Book Fair, to be held from 23 January to 5 February. The fair will celebrate its Golden Jubilee, co-sponsored by Air Cairo, the only airline that regularly runs direct flights between Belgrade and Hurghada.

The Egyptian embassy ​​organises competitions in poetry, essays and short stories for Arabic language students in Serbian universities to encourage them to learn Arabic literature and in preparation for Egypt’s participation as a guest of honour at the Belgrade International Book Fair in October 2019.

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“The awards were highly appreciated by the winners, who expressed their eagerness to visit Egypt, especially through the valuable cultural activities to familiarise them with the region’s leading regional literary production as the League of Arab States is the guest of honor of the Cairo Book Fair,” said Aljowaily, adding that “the celebration was full of positive vibes from among the large attendance of the ceremony, which exceeded 400 people.”