Ambassador Khalid Fathalrahman, Head of the Center for Civilizational Dialogue of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), met Dr. Ahmed Zayed, Director of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina (BA) in the Arab Republic of Egypt, to explore ways to enhance cooperation between the two institutions in the fields of publishing, digitization, artificial intelligence, and civilizational dialogue through programs that promote moderation and reject extremism.

During the meeting, which took place at the BA, on Tuesday, October 1st, 2024, the two parties stressed the need to sign a new cooperation agreement between ICESCO and the BA that takes into account global developments.

The meeting also touched on cooperation between ICESCO and the BA as well as efforts coordination to develop the fields calligraphy and manuscripts, taking into consideration the significant progress of the BA Center for Calligraphy in the arrangements being made for the inauguration of ICESCO’s Center for Calligraphy and Manuscripts (CCM).

The two parties also reviewed the arrangements for the international symposium “Al-Akkad and the Islamic World”, to be held in Alexandria, next December, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the passing of the great Egyptian thinker, and the Library’s readiness to intellectually contribute to promoting ICESCO’s newly coined concept of “civilizational diplomacy”.

The meeting saw the presence of Dr. Osama Al-Nahas, Expert at ICESCO’s Culture and Communication Sector, and Dr. Salma Al-Wakeel, Head of the BA Scientific and Academic Research Sector, Dr. Mohamed Suleiman, Head of the BA Culture and Communication Sector, and Dr. Ahmed Mansour, Director of the BA Center for Calligraphy and Manuscripts.