TIBF event stands a positive sign of development for country – 1st VP

1391/02/24-08:30

A closing ceremony was held Saturday for the 25th edition of Tehran International Book Fair (TIBF) where the IRI First Vice President, Muhammad Reza Rahimi said the event stood a positive sign of development for the country, helping earn Iran first and tenth ranks in the Middle East and the world respectively in terms of cultural indicators.

Besides the first vice president, several other senior authorities and figures joined the closing ceremony, including Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, Sayyed Muhammad Husseini, TIBF President, Bahman Dorri, presidents of previous editions of the book fair and a number of renowned Iranian authors.

Mr. Rahimi opened his remarks by offering his congratulations on the auspicious May 12 birth anniversary of Hadhrat Fatema (S.A.), the revered daughter of the last Messenger of Allah, Hadhrat Muhammad (PBUH).

The official said the government would soon lay the foundation stone for a permanent fairground for the major international event in an area vast enough to afford to the massive size of inspectors to the book fair and wide variety of materials on stands.

Over six million people inspected the 25th edition of Tehran International Book Fair (TIBF), setting a record worldwide in terms of the number of visitors to any book fair ever recorded, according to Iran Book News Agency (IBNA). Over 400 thousand titles were on stands in the book fair.

Mr. Rahimi then delivered a short report on the status of national publishing industry, saying that up to 300 thousand titles were published under the serving cabinet, equal to total number of books published under all previous cabinets.

The first vice president urged the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance to plan to enhance per capital book-reading quota nationwide by making books more accessible to people across the country.