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Jakarta is ready to host International Publishers Association World Congress
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Jakarta Deputy Governor Ahmad Riza Patria with some prominent figures after press conference, before having a welcome dinner, in preparation for the 33rd IPA World Congress, which will be held in the capital on Nov. 10-12.
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akarta will join the ranks of other renowned capitals such as Bangkok, London and New Delhi when it hosts the 33rd International Publishers Congress of the International Publishers Association (IPA), also known as the IPA World Congress, from Nov. 10 to 12.
This also marks the return of the biennial congress, which had to cancel the 2020 event in Lillehammer, Norway, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Jakarta, which was [designated] a City of Literature by UNESCO in 2021, is now ready to host the 2022 IPA World Congress,” said Arys Hilman Nugraha, president of the Indonesian Publishers Association (IKAPI).
“The city has transformed into a modern megacity, home to more than 10 million people, with advanced infrastructure facilities,” he said.
In conjunction with the IPA Congress, the nation’s capital is also hosting the International Seminar on Librarianship of the Indonesian Library Association (ILA) and the Indonesia International Book Fair (IIBF) from Nov. 9 to 13.
Jakarta reportedly has 30 percent of the country’s bookstores and also has thousands of libraries, publishers and other literary businesses. Represented by IKAPI, the country is one of four Southeast Asian countries that have full IPA membership and was home to the region’s most productive national publishing industry in 2019.
“Jakarta has been selected to host the 33rd IPA congress in 2022. This is the result of the collaboration between the public and the Jakarta administration in developing the book industry and literacy,” Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan said, referring to the city’s evolving publishing market.
The governor said its success in being selected to host this year’s event was proof of the city’s commitment to the country and the world in developing people’s wellbeing through literature. He also underlined the support of the city administration, which planned to partner with the public, publishers, community groups and literacy volunteers to realize its mission through literary programs.
"We need a united movement in the community to not buy pirated books,” Jakarta Deputy Governor Ahmad Riza “Ariza” Patria told a press conference regarding the 2022 IPA World Congress at City Hall on May 17.
“We know it's not easy, we have to [keep encouraging] people not to buy cheap pirated books,” he added.
Moreover, Ariza said, people needed to abide by the laws on piracy and pirated goods: "Let's support law enforcement agencies to be more explicit and firmer against those responsible for [producing] pirated books."
The Jakarta Capital City Government fully supported the privilege to host the IPA World Congress. The city’s Tourism and Creative Economy Department has appointed the IKAPI as the executor of the congress’ activities.
"The Jakarta administration believes that the IPA World Congress is an opportunity to restore and develop tourism and the creative industries," said Andhika Permata, the head of the Jakarta Tourism and Creative Economy Department.
He added that the congress supported Jakarta as a global city that prioritized collaboration.
Laura Prinsloo, who chairs the IPA Jakarta congress’ organizing committee, added that the IPA and IKAPI had arranged many activities to look forward to, including discussions on Liberty or Surveillance: How Technology Affects the Freedom to Publish, Copyright, Artificial Intelligence and Publishing, Books for Children: Future-Proofing Tomorrow’s Readers and Transformation: Future of Creative Industry and Content Development.
“Jakarta, as the center and the starting point of the Indonesian publishing industry, is committed to making sure that books play an important role in the lives of Jakartans,” Laura said.
“Jakarta hopes to host many more book-related activities in the city, across cities and also between countries in line with the 33rd IPA World Congress’ theme, ‘Reading Matters: Everybody’s Reading’,” she added.
Each IPA World Congress is rooted in the association’s mission to promote, protect and raise awareness over the power of publishing as a force for economic, cultural and social development.
Coming out of the pandemic, Arys said many discussion topics would likely be tied to the challenges brought on by digitalization.
“In the face of the technological disruption accelerated by the pandemic, the book industry will never be the same again. Both technology and the pandemic have [introduced] new challenges, from developing [digital] platforms to copyright issues,” he said.
At the same time, he continued, they also created “new opportunities, from manuscript acquisition to book distribution”, and the IPA was working to address these issues.
