About 530,000 people visited this year’s Taipei International Book Exhibition, a decline of 8.6 percent, or 50,000 people, from last year, the organizer said on Sunday.
Taipei Book Fair Foundation chairman Chao Cheng-ming (趙政岷) attributed the lower attendance to the cold and rain, as well as the Hualien earthquake on Tuesday last week.
Chao added that total sales likely dropped between 10 and 20 percent from last year.
“Overall sales of books and carry bags were lower than last year,” he said.
However, the number of publishers participating in the exhibition rose 10 percent from the previous year, while the number of seminars and other activities held during the six-day show increased 27 percent, Chao said.
“There was an average of 200 activities a day during the exhibition,” he said.
The exhibition, with Israel as this year’s theme country, attracted attention from many publishers across the world, including Germany, Finland, Brazil, Thailand, Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong, Chao said.
Israel Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei Representative Asher Yarden said he was pleased to present Israel’s literature, authors, culture and spirit of innovation at the exhibition, which started on Tuesday last week and ran through Sunday.
The Israeli authors who participated in the book show were impressed by Taiwan’s hospitality, Yarden said.
German Institute Taipei Director-General Martin Eberts praised the book show’s success and attributed it to Taiwan’s free and open society.
Germany will be next year’s theme country, the foundation said.
Eberts said the choice was a great honor for Germany.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
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