J

akarta will host the Indonesia International Book Fair (IIBF) '€” previously known as the Indonesia Book Fair '€” in the Senayan sports hall in Central Jakarta from Nov. 1 to 9, organized by the Indonesian Publishers Association (Ikapi).

Ikapi head Lucya Andam Dewi said that up to 87 publishers, book stores, libraries and cultural institutions from 11 countries would participate in the book fair. She went on to say that the main focus of this year'€™s IIBF would be on Saudi Arabia, which will hold art exhibitions and cultural lessons.

'€œThe book fair this year will be slightly different from previous years. The theme is, '€˜Read Books, See the World'€™, so we will also focus on international participants, which are Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, South Korea, Singapore, China, Japan, Taiwan, Canada, Egypt and Pakistan. Moreover, Saudi Arabia will be the main country focused on in this book fair,'€ Lucya told a press conference in Central Jakarta on Tuesday, adding that previously the book fair only focused on guests from Indonesia'€™s provinces.

She added that the Saudi Arabian cultural attaché would host cultural discussions and hold performances. She said that Ikapi personally invited Saudi Arabia because of the close relationship between Indonesia and that country.

The book fair'€™s name was changed to anticipate next year'€™s Frankfurt Book Fair, Lucya said, in which Indonesia will be a guest of honor. '€œNext year, Indonesia will be the guest of honor at the Frankfurt Book Fair. Therefore, we also want to make our book fair recognized internationally,'€ she said.

The Frankfurt Book Fair is one of the most popular international book fairs in the world. By being the guest of honor at the book fair, Indonesia will have a chance to promote its culture and tourist destinations to increase the number of foreign tourists.

Speaking on the same occasion, IIBF committee head Remon Agus said that he was optimistic about the event and aimed for as many as 1 million visitors, much higher than last year'€™s 200,000.

'€œThis book fair is quite different from other book fairs and from the previous fairs that we have held [...] We have books and performances from other countries as well,'€ he said.

Remon, who is also Ikapi'€™s head of international cooperation, said that the book fair would broaden its visitors'€™ knowledge and that he was optimistic visitors would be attracted by the fair'€™s new concept.

'€œThe visitors will be able to purchase books discounted up to 70 percent, some of which are not yet available in the city'€™s bookstores. Moreover, visitors will also have the rare chance to engage in discussions with well-known Indonesian writers such as [Dee] and learn more about other countries'€™ cultures,'€ Remon said.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabian Ambassador to Indonesia Mustafa Ibrahim Al-Mubarak said that the embassy would provide special prizes to lucky visitors.

'€œWe will give out prizes such as date palm fruit and Zam Zam water [sacred well water from Mecca]. We will also have a grand prize: haj [Islamic pilgrim to Mecca] tickets complete with accommodation,'€ Al-Mubarak said.

He added that Saudi Arabia was honored to be the first guest country focused on by book fair. Al-Mubarak went on to say that Indonesia was an important partner to Saudi Arabia and hoped that the two countries could maintain their relations.