Over 500,000 attend 18th Karachi International Book Fair

KARACHI: The 18th five-day Karachi International Book Fair organized by Pakistan Publishers and Booksellers Association at Karachi Expo Center concluded successfully on Monday with around 500,000 people attending during the five days.

On the last day of the exhibition, the publishers offered books for sale at highly discounted rates, which were well appreciated by the book lovers.

According to a  estimate, the number of participants in the book fair, which continued from December 14 to December 18, exceeded 500,000.

Among those visiting the exhibition are students of schools, colleges, seminaries, university, women, elderly citizens, lawyers, retired and present judges, foreign diplomats and other prominent personalities belonging to politics, literature, private schools organizations and people from different walks of life.

About 330 stalls were set up by local and foreign publishers and booksellers.

Even on the fifth day, the interest of people was seen and the enthusiasm of the buyers was also visible.

Pakistan Publishers and Booksellers Association Chairman Aziz Khalid, KIBF Convener Waqar Mateen, Deputy Convener Syed Nasir Hussain, Secretary Pakistan Publishers and Booksellers Association Taha Jamal, Coordinator Sheikh Alamgir Yusuf, Nadeem Akhtar, Media Coordinator Abid Zubair and other members expressed special gratitude to the participants from Sindh and other cities of the country including Karachi.

They said that the large number of students and citizens participated in the book fair and showed their love and affection for books.

In the book fair , various competitions based on practical activities were conducted for the interest of students and more than a dozen books were launched by literary personalities.

During the book fair, for the first time in Pakistan, a table calendar for visually impaired people and a hand-made Formula One sports car were also introduced.

For the first time in the world, a Palestine board game was introduced to educate children about the Palestinian cities and wars.

Several academic and literary seminars  were conducted in the presence of academicians and doctors on the psychological and academic problems of children and their solutions.

Books on history, fiction and practical activities along with textbooks were sold in large numbers.

The book fair was inaugurated by Caretaker Chief Minister Justice (Rtd) Maqbool Baqar while MQM senior leader Faisal Sabzwari also participated in the opening ceremony.

Among those who visited the 18th KIBF included caretaker information minister Sindh Ahmed Shah, MQM convener Dr. Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, former federal minister and MQM leader Aminul Haq, former education minister Sindh Syed Sardar Shah, MQM-Pakistan leader Khush Bakht Shujaat, MQM-Pakistan leader Nasreen Jalil, Jamaat-e-Islami Karachi Ameer Hafiz Naeem Rehman, Jamaat-e-Islami leader Mairaj Ul Huda Siddiqui, Aamir Chishti, Dr. Hilal Naqvi, Amina Syed and other literary, social and political personalities.

ATM facilities were also provided for the convenience of the citizens while strict security arrangements were made in and around the Expo Center Karachi.

Waqar Mateen, convener of the Karachi International Book Fair, said that all the previous records of participation of citizens and students in this book fair were broken.

He said that publishers had run out of stocks.

In response to a question, he said that 40 to 45 more publishers and booksellers had expressed their desire to participate in the book fair, but due to lack of space, they could not accommodate them.

“We will try to take this book fair to other cities of Pakistan in the future,” he vowed.