THT- On 28 th July Thursday night, the Hargeisa cultural center was a platform for young people who enthusiastically flocked the fair.
The evening program which was the closing of the 15th edition of the book fair was seen by young people who arrived at the center hours before the starting time due to their curiosity.
When the program started and the traditional folk dance was presented, the stage became congested, and all seats reserved for the participants were more than full.
The chairman of the Hargeisa Cultural Center Dr. Jama M. Jama, who spoke at the event thanked all those who participated in the HIBF and praised the energetic young staff of the center, without them the event would have been like this.
Dr. Jama also thanked a Djibouti citizen Faisal, whom he said since the international book fair was started every year he used to participate; he also welcomed a Senegalese patron, this year’s guest nation, who works in Hargeisa, to speak on behalf of his country.
The Senegalese thanked the HIBF administration, the president and the people of Somaliland, and noted similarities of the two countries’ cultures that made it easy for him to work in Somaliland and feel safe.
Minister of Information Hon. Saleeban Yusuf Ali, who spoke at the closing event, recalled the stages of the reconstruction of the country, and the difficult circumstances which were endured, and advised teenagers present to not get mixed up in the hullabaloos of the political parties, but only on the voting day to exercise their voting rights.
At the end of the event, various songs were performed by the Horn Stars group.
The event ended in a pleasant atmosphere, and all participants pledged to attend next year’s sixteenth fair.