Riyadh, Jumada II 09, 1438, March 08, 2017, SPA -- Under the patronage of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Dr. Adel bin Zaid Altoraifi, Minister of Culture and Information, opened here today Riyadh international book fair 2017 at the Exhibitions and Conferences Gallery in the presence of Malaysian minister of education Dr. Mahdzir bin Khalid, as his country is the guest of honor of this year's version. The event, being held under the theme "the book: vision, referring to the Kingdom's vision 2030, and transformation, a reference to the Kingdom transformation program 2020, was opened with Dr. Altoraifi cutting the ribbon and the Saudi royal anthem played. Then, Altoraifi and Malaysian minister of education co-opened the Malaysian pavilion as guest of honor and toured other parts of the event which lasts until March 18. --SPA 19:10 LOCAL TIME 16:10 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w348956