Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance told closing ceremony:

Minimum visits to fair at 300 to 350 thousand a day

1388/02/27-08:30

 

Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance told a closing ceremony of the 22^nd Tehran International Book Fair that the latest edition of book fair was wrapped with authors and visitors resting more content than previous editions. Mohammad-Hussein Saffar-Harandi thanked all authorities in charge of the book fair as well as authors and corps of publication in the country, adding that the cultural trend of society is on a favorable track at present, leading to a favorable publication situation in the country among others.

The closing ceremony of the 22^nd Tehran International Book Fair was attended by Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani, Minister of Cultrue and Islamic Guidance Mohammad-Hussein Saffar-Harandi, Head of the Book Fair and deputy Culture Minister in Cultural Affairs, Mohsen Parviz, Cultural Aide to President, Ali-Akbar Ash'ari and deputy head of the book fair, Ehsanollah Hojjati.

Culture Minister believed that considering the fact that Tehran's grand mosque is the venue of the book fair, presence in the fair is a divine opportunity for the corps of culture and pen in the country.

The Minister expressed regret that Islamic Revolution Leader Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei, currently on an eight-day provincial visit to Kordestan Province west of Iran was short of chance of presence in the fair, adding that lovers and corps of culture in the country take inspiration from his presence in the fair.

Saffar-Harandi thanked all authorities in charge of the book fair, as well as authors and corps of publication industry in the country, adding that the cultural trend of society is on a favorable track at present, leading to a favorable publication situation in the country among others.

He said the design and implementation of book reading promotional projects in the country have led to a revolution in book reading, adding that per capita time spent on book reading in the country has doubled in the course of the past decade.

The Minister said that there was a 20 percent rise in the volume of visits to the fair compared to average visits to past editions of fair, adding that minimum visits of people to the fair were 300 to 350 thousands per day while up to 900,000 visits were registered at the peak of daily visits.

Saffar-Harandi noted that a notable amount of visitors has been book clients, adding that the participation of publishers showed a 30 percent rise compared to previous edition.