Iran opens int'l book fair with Italy as special guest

The 30th Tehran International Book Fair opened here on Tuesday, with Italy as a special guest of this year's event.

Italian President Sergio Mattarella said in a written message that he feels honored that his country is the special guest of the cultural event, Tehran Times daily reported.

He also said that this will be a turning point in the history of cultural cooperation between the two countries, according to the report.

Iran's parliament speaker Ali Larijani said in a speech during the opening ceremony that "this cultural event shows Iranians' interest in learning, as paying due attention to wisdom is highly recommended in Islamic thought."

The Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, Reza Salehi Amiri, said in a speech that his ministry is planning to entrust the task of organizing the book fair to the publishers in the future.

"To achieve such a goal, We should find out how our libraries, our publications and the technology are run and we intend for the non-governmental organizations active in producing, distributing and selling books," he said.

"The increasing number of book publications indicates the growing change in Iran's publication industry. The fair needs to offer new innovations and pave the way for more Iranian publishers to participate in the international arena," he added.

The 30th Tehran International Book Fair will be held from May 3 to 13, 2017 in the southern district of Tehran. The theme of this year's event is "Read one more book."

Publishers from 32 countries will attend the event. Endit