TUNIS: Participants in the ninth meeting of the Unified Index of Arab Creators Initiative, which concluded on Friday at the City of Culture in Tunis, thanked the Saudi government for its support of projects that serve Arab and Islamic culture. The event, which had the theme “efficient knowledge management for sustainable development,” was held under the patronage of Tunisian Minister of Cultural Affairs Dr. Mohamed Zine El Abidine and featured the participation of 200 scholars, librarians and specialists in information services from 13 Arab countries. Saudi Ambassador to Tunisia Mohammed bin Mahmoud Al-Ali and Saudi Cultural Attache Dr. Mohammed Al-Tom also took part. During the closing ceremony Dr. Abdul Karim bin Abdulrahman Al-Zaid, the deputy general supervisor of the King Abdul Aziz Public Library in Riyadh, thanked the minister of cultural affairs and his ministry for organizing the event. He said it was particularly important because it coincides with Tunisia this year being honored as the capital of Islamic culture, reflecting its ancient history and cultural and Arab heritage. “Holding this meeting in Tunisia translates our ambitions in the Arab world, especially in Saudi Arabia and Tunisia, as we aim to establish a society pillared with knowledge that establishes a culture of science, knowledge, literature and arts as the most important elements of sustainable development,” he said. He highlighted the importance of Arab Unified Index projects such as the Arab Innovators Initiative, which was launched during the meeting; the Arab Index Initiative, which supports the establishment of national indexes; an initiative to add other languages ​​to the Arab Index Database; and the Arab Content Support Initiative. He also called for increased cooperation and integration between Arab libraries and information centers.