Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, is to host the 33rd International Publishers Congress which will take place on 11-13 November 2022. The city has a population of 10m and has long been the region’s centre for literacy, culture and the arts. It is home to an extraordinary 5,604 libraries and 1,240 publishing houses, as well as 30% of the country’s modern bookstores. It is also the first city in Indonesia to take part in the bid to be named UNESCO World Book Capital 2022.
Bodour Al Qasimi, Vice President of the International Publishers Association (IP) said: “We are very excited to be heading to Jakarta in 2022. The Indonesian publishing market is growing in strength and stature and has every chance of emerging as an Asian powerhouse in the near future. The Indonesian vision for the 2022 International Publishers Congress is so compelling and we are all looking forward to seeing it come to life.”
Governor of Jakarta, Anies Baswedan, said: “We are thrilled to welcome the members of IPA to join us at the 33rd International Publishers Congress. As the host of the event, Jakarta shows its readiness to become the hub of book industry development in Asia Pacific, a region inhabited by 60% of the total world population. We are delighted to be hosting this prestigious international event, and holding a dedicated meeting for book stakeholders to generate creative ideas and prepare Asia Pacific as a future world development centre.”
Executive Chair of Jakarta Book City Committee, Laura Prinsloo, said: “Indonesia, as well as the global publishing industry, has been greatly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the challenges, we have seen and heard of many great initiatives from publishers around the world to cope with the situation. We hope that the upcoming congress will lift spirits within the industry and that it can be a platform for these important dialogues to be shared, hopefully benefiting publishers and generating interesting innovations for the future.”
The 32nd International Publishers Congress took place in New Delhi, India in 2018. The 33rd International Publishers Congress was originally scheduled to take place in Lillehammer, Norway, but was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
