Riyadh, 9 October 2025 (17 Rabi’ al-Thani 1447H) – As part of the activities of the Riyadh International Book Fair 2025, held under the slogan "Riyadh Reads," the fair hosted a special panel discussion titled "The Arab Translation Observatory: From Initiative to Impact," reviewing the Observatory’s journey and its role in supporting the Arabic translation industry and strengthening its presence regionally and internationally.

The panel featured Dr. Abdulhakim Al-Sinan, supervisor of the Arab Translation Observatory; Dr. Khalifa Al-Hazzaa, translator and writer; and literary translator Dalal Nasrallah, in an interactive session addressing shifts in the Arab translation landscape and the Observatory’s role in achieving knowledge and cultural integration among bodies concerned with translation across the Arab world.

Dr. Al-Sinan explained that the Observatory, launched on the initiative of Saudi Arabia through the Literature, Publishing and Translation Commission in cooperation with the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO), represents the first specialized Arab reference for monitoring and documenting translation activity. He noted that the Observatory seeks to support translators and cultural institutions, develop professional translation standards, and build strategic partnerships that contribute to sustainable cultural development.

He noted that the Observatory’s digital platform includes more than 800 specialized translators across various languages and more than 100,000 bibliographic records of books translated from and into Arabic, in addition to registering more than 2,000 Arab and international publishing houses, making it a leading database in the field of translation in the region. He added that the Observatory’s work rests on three specialized committees — the Monitoring Committee, the Business Development Committee, and the Grants and Research Committee — which analyze translation activity, track its trends, and support qualitative studies that raise the quality of translated content and expand its cultural and knowledge impact.

For his part, Dr. Khalifa Al-Hazzaa affirmed that the Observatory has become a trusted Arab reference for documenting translations, pointing to the importance of building bridges of cooperation with educational institutions and publishing houses to cement the presence of academic and professional translation. He also called for controlling the use of artificial intelligence tools in translation to ensure the preservation of textual quality and cultural accuracy of meaning.

Literary translator Dalal Nasrallah noted that the Observatory has moved from idea to tangible reality within a short period, stressing the importance of developing its technical tools and expanding its global reach, while establishing performance indicators to measure cultural and knowledge impact and strengthening data security and the protection of translators’ and creators’ rights.

The panel comes as part of the Riyadh International Book Fair 2025’s efforts to spotlight qualitative cultural initiatives that contribute to building an advanced Arab knowledge industry, in line with Saudi Vision 2030’s goal of empowering culture as a pillar of national development and strengthening Saudi Arabia’s role as a global cultural bridge in thought, translation and creativity.