ABU DHABI, 23rd May, 2022 (WAM) — Rakuten Kobo, the global eBook brand, has announced that it will adopt Arabic as its primary browsing language for users in the last quarter of 2022.

Based in Ontario, Canada, Rakuten Kobo is the second-largest e-reader brand in the world, hosting seven million titles in 76 languages, shipping e-books to 190 countries, and running local operations in 25 countries.

The announcement was made by Michael Tamblyn, CEO of Rakuten Kobo, during a keynote speech at the International Arabic Publishing and Creative Industries Conference, hosted by the Arabic Language Center Abu Dhabi (ALC) , part of the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi), as part of the 2022 Abu Dhabi International Book Fair.

Tamblyn said Rakuten Kobo aims to improve the region’s e-book sales industry and create a thriving, large-scale digital market for book publishing. He also discussed ways to start an independent digital market using conversions, e-book aggregation and distribution, self-publishing, audiobook production and global distribution.

He called on publishers to strengthen their supply chains and strive to improve their work while benefiting from different types of support, especially government, which is necessary to succeed in the sector.

Tamblyn also discussed Rakuten Kobo’s position and the policies it pursues to open up and discover new and successful markets for e-book sales, as well as the importance and necessity of government support for e-book platforms. .