The main purpose of establishing a large cultural institution such as GEBO was to narrow the cultural gap between Egypt and the advanced world. This required concerted efforts by all other sectors of the Egyptian ministry of culture to achieve further progress, so as to reflect the current status of Egypt and her ancient civilization. The responsibilities of GEBO include achieving the following targets :

* To facilitate in every possible way the dissemination of Arab and foreign intellectual output.
* To re-publish the newly-edited Arabic classics, so as to make them easily available to all.
* To publish original and translated works, locally and internationally.
* To print, publish and market Egyptian books at local, Arab and international levels. 

The achievement of these goals has required that a publishing plan be drawn up, to be implemented in several stages during the year. This should meet all the reading needs in society, and should fill any gaps felt to exist in the Arabic ‘library'. This has required the following :

1. To make detailed lists of the books judged to be fit for publication, within the general framework allowed for publication.
2. To make extensive marketing studies on the prevailing publishing trends in Egypt, Arab and foreign countries.
3. The appointment of specialized committees for the impartial examination of all the works submitted for publication. Each committee is confined to its field of specialization, but the overall responsibility is in the hands of the Chairman of GEBO.