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President attends book fair opening

President Lee Teng-hui hosted the opening ceremony for the 8th Taipei International Book Exhibition at the World Trade Center yesterday and later took a short walk around the site to get a first-hand look of some of the fair's booths. PHOTO:CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEITIMES

The 8th Taipei International Book Fair opened yesterday at the World Trade Center, with President Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) attending the opening ceremony of the six-day event -- an indication of the fair's importance. Lee was joined by the head of the Government Informa-tion Office (GIO) Chao Yi (趙怡).

The fair, sponsored by the GIO, has become a major event for the book industry in Asia, attracting publishers from all over the world and correspondents from major news agencies and trade journals.

Sally Taylor of Publishers Weekly, a major trade magazine in New York, commented on the show, saying: "I love coming to Taiwan, I can always feel the energy here."

"Sally Taylor always seems to come away impressed by what she sees here," said Joyce Yen (顏秀娟), rights buyer at China Times Publishing Co, who has known Taylor for several years. "Her coverage of last year's fair was massive -- six pages in Publishers Weekly."

"Such coverage in a trade magazine as prestigious as PW helps stamp Taipei as a place worth taking seriously, boosting its international image and creating an ongoing buzz that will last until the book fair gets underway again next February," public relations officer Chou Fu-an said. "Taipei is hoping to become `the Frankfurt of Asia.'"

Chou was referring to the annual Frankfurt Book Fair in Germany.

This year's fair is being widely covered by the international press, according to Chou, adding that the fair hoped for wider international coverage each year.

"Coverage begets coverage," Chou said. "The more the fair here gets covered in the international media, the better the chances are for more translations, both from English and other foreign languages to Chinese, and from Chinese to English. We're not Frankfurt or Bologna, and we never will be. But we can become the Frankfurt of Asia, as the fair grows and develops."

"Each book fair here lays the groundwork for the next year's fair, and any coverage we get overseas is essential to boosting Taiwan's image as a publishing capital in Asia," Chou said.

"We have large publishing delegations visiting this year from Germany, Russia, the US, Japan, and of course, Britain. The friendships we make at the fair go a long way in boosting Taiwan's image in the international community. Books transcend borders," she said.
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