International book fair Dhaka this year: Minister

Ahasan, Dhaka, 30 March 2019

Dhaka, Mar 20 (UNB) – State Minister for Cultural Affairs K M Khaled on Wednesday said an international book fair will be held in the city at the end of the year.

He disclosed the information at the annual general meeting of Bangladesh Publishers and Booksellers Association (BAPUS) held at the city’s Engineers Institution Auditorium.

“This year’s Amar Ekushey book fair has been relatively better than the other times. In order to make this book fair more beautiful and attractive in the future, all efforts will be taken from the ministry. Besides, an international book fair will be held in Dhaka at the end of this year. That is why efforts are being made to provide necessary funds from the ministry,” he said.

The minister delivered his speech as the chief guest at a seminar titled ‘Role of Printing industry in Building the Nation’ as part of the annual general meeting of the association.

The minister said the association plays a vital role behind the production of 36 crore books which are distributed to the students in primary and secondary level on the first day of the year.

He said the first meeting of the 101 members national committee headed by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will be held at her office in order to observe the birth anniversary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman next year properly.

Mentioning the Ministry of Cultural Affairs as one of the major partners of the programme, the State Minister sought the support of the association to make the event successful.

At the same time, the State Minister assured the all-round cooperation from the Ministry for improving the lives of the people involved in the publishing industry.

President of the association Arif Hossain presided over the seminar as a special guest while educationist Dr Ratan Siddiqui and General Secretary of Publishers and Book Sellers Guild of Kolkata Tridibakumar Chattopadhyay delivered their speech.

Director of BUPUS Abul Bashar Firoz presented the keynote paper at the seminar while President of BUPUS Shaheed Serniabat and Vice President of the same organisation Kamrul Hasan Shayak spoke on the occasion.

Source : UNB