Int’l Union of Muslim Publishers joins TIBF event for a first time

1391/02/21-08:30

IRI-based International Union of Muslim Publishers (IUMP) has joined Tehran International Bok Fair (TIBF) for the first time ever, taking a space in the landmark cultural event with the goal of interfacing with and enrolling of publishers from other Muslim countries.

The union has set up a pavilion in the prayer hall of Imam Khomeini Mosalla (grand mosque), the venue of the major international book fair, TIBF press office reported Thursday.

Inspectors to the book fair can review a history of the union and get familiar with its functions and performance by browsing the materials on display in the pavilion.

The union was established in 2009 in a bid to fix several shortfalls within the field including poor knowledge on the part of Muslim publishers from one another, the union’s director general, Ali Zare’i Najafdari told a TIBF panel discussion a day earlier.

A draft policy of the union was debated and ratified in a second convention held in October 2011 in Tehran and a general assembly was subsequently established comprising 47 members, including the director general who also chairs the union’s executive board.

The executive board will convene in mid-June in Tehran to decide on terms of membership, the director general said, adding that up to 650 top Muslim publishers had already joined the union since establishment while official enrolment would start only after the membership terms are approved in the mid-June convention.

Publishers enrolled are from scores of countries including Islamic Republic of Iran, Azerbaijan, South Africa, Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Turkmenistan, Turkey, China, Russia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Ghana, France, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Qatar, Kenya, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Egypt, Nigeria, Albania, Jordan, Uzbekistan, Spain, Italy, Brazil, Portugal, Tatarstan, Thailand, Tunisia, Algeria, Senegal, Canada, Nigeria, and India.