Private companies are now in charge of the management and executive affairs of the annual Tehran International Book Fair (TIBF) for the first time since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The cultural deputy at the ministry of culture and Islamic guidance and Tehran’s Publishers and Booksellers Association (TPBA) signed a memorandum of understanding based on which all issues related to the TIBF will be transferred to the association within a three-year process, including management and executive affairs; Mahmoud Amouzgar, spokesman of the policymaking council of TIBF was quoted by IRNA as saying. This is the first time a non-government institution has been assigned to deal with TIBF and the issue is one of the major developments on the sidelines of the 28th edition of the event.
The Rouhani administration and the culture ministry have made known that in line with their declared policy of downsizing and openness, they will give an effective role to unions, associations and private enterprises both in management and decision-making in issues related largely to the people.
“I hope the association is successful in carrying out this task in the best possible way and ensure the private sector’s future involvement in such matters,” Amouzgar said.
The process should be sustained “at a slow and steady pace, so the quality of future editions of TIBF would be enhanced to a considerable level.”
TIBF is an annual event held in a 135,000m2 venue at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini Mosalla (prayer ground) in May. It comprises national and international, children’s, and academic exhibitions. Local and foreign publishers will exhibit the latest publications along with older titles.
For this year’s edition, up until now, seven book shipments have entered the fair’s grounds. The shipments, weighing about 140 tons, include titles sent from Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Oman, and England.
TIBF is scheduled for May 6-16.
