International Publishers Congress kicks off in India

International Publishers Association president Michiel Kolman, president and CEO of the Association of American Publishers Maria Pallante and Omicon Publishing House chairman Mehedi Hasan address the International Publishers Congress in New Delhi on 12 February. Photo: Collected
International Publishers Association president Michiel Kolman, president and CEO of the Association of American Publishers Maria Pallante and Omicon Publishing House chairman Mehedi Hasan address the International Publishers Congress in New Delhi on 12 February. Photo: Collected

The 32nd edition of the International Publishers Congress (IPA) was inaugurated in New Delhi on 12 February in presence of over 300 delegates from across the world.

The congress will continue from 11 to 14 February at Hotel Taj Palace in New Delhi, India, said a press release on Monday.

The congress includes the award ceremony for the 2018 IPA Prix Voltaire and will feature a programme of sessions covering burning issues affecting publishers and the publishing sector.

India’s science and technology minister Harsh Vardhan, and commerce and industry minister Suresh Prabhu inaugurated the three-day event under the title of “Shaping the Future: Innovation Meets Experience”.

The IPA is the world’s largest federation of national, regional and specialist publishers’ associations. Its membership comprises 70 organisations from 60 countries in Africa, Asia, Australasia, Europe and the Americas.

Bangladesh’s largest international book publishing house Banglaprakash CEO and managing editor Mehedi Hasan said it’s the publishers around the world who have risen to the challenge and are publishing what we would call trustworthy information, as they’ve been doing for ages.

On this occasion Fip president NK Mehra, Michiel Kolman, president of the International Publishers Association, Michael Healy, the Executive Director International Relations, Maria A Pallante, president and CEO of the Association of American Publishers, Hugo Andreas Setzer, the Mexican Publishers Association, Asoke K. Ghosh, Chairman and Managing Director of PHI Learning Private Limited, Emma House, the Deputy CEO of the Publishers Association, Juergen Boose, the President / CEO at Frankfurter Buchmesse, Bodour Al Qasimi, Founder and CEO of Kalimat Group, Kristenn Einarsson, the chair of IPA’s Freedom to publish Committee was present in the function.

IPA president Michiel Kolman said it’s great to bring the Congress back to India with a strong emphasis on promoting copyright and defending freedom to publish. These are issues that are important locally, regionally and globally and the programme is bursting with great speakers to tackle them.

Asoke Gosh, chairman and managing director of PHI Learning Private Limited said, “We are honoured to bring our international colleagues to New Delhi. The challenges our industry face are increasingly global and we need to work together to shape a bright future for our sector and generations of readers to come.”