Finance Minister Dr Saad Ali Shire said that Somaliland and Morocco share culture, religion, food, economic situation and environmental challenges.
Dr. Saad, who spoke at the international book fair said, “Every year we are privileged to enjoy Hargeisa book fair. Thanks, Hargeisa Cultural Center”.
He continued, “Today, we are here to witness the 16th Hargeisa International Book Fair. The fair has become a permanent feature of the summer activities in Hargeisa. It bring the world in Somaliland and takes Somaliland to the world.
Dr Saad, said “I understand the concept is complicated and adopted nationally and internationally the other countries. The aim of the book fair, as I understand is to preserve culture, and encourage art and writing, particularly among youth, share heritage and history and learn from other cultures.
“Every year the book fair has always had two features, a theme, and a guest country.
“The theme this year is “Resilience”, and the guest country is Morocco, which is situated on the Atlantic side of the African continent, and Somaliland on the opposite side of the continent. In terms of kilometers, the distance between Rabat capital of Morocco, and Hargeisa capital of Somaliland is about five thousand and eight hundred Kms.
“Yet, despite the distance, we share culture, cuisine, religion, economic and environmental challenges.
“I hope guest artist and their Somaliland counterparts will enrich each other’s experiment. With regard to the theme of resilience, if you google search for the definition, it says; ‘the capacity to withstand or to recover quickly from difficult situations.
“For me, it also means the capacity to innovate and the capacity to turn adversities into opportunities. Resilience is the state of mind that refuses defeat and exceeds optimism and creativity. It is the sort of spirit we need to cultivate and instill in our youth, in classroom and outside the classroom, in public forums and platforms of the book fair”, he ended.