Fifth Ghana International Book Fair launched

Accra, Nov. 10, GNA - The Ghana Book Publishers Association on Wednesday appealed to government to create an enabling environment for publishers to do effective business and encourage others to join the industry.

Mr Sam Wood, Chief Executive of Sam Wood Ltd, a book publishing company, who made the call on Wednesday, said publishers were currently paying more than ten times the cost of publishing books, making imported reading materials considerably cheaper than the local ones. The Chief Executive was speaking at the launch of the Fifth Ghana International Book Fair in Accra, which was attended by about 63 publishers, under the theme "Strengthening the book chain for international development."

Mr Wood said even though there were tax relieves on importation of materials for the book industry, the policy was being ignored by some bodies and called on the government to organize another stakeholders' meeting to address the concerns of publishers.

He advocated the strengthening of the Ghana Book Developers Council to assist government to identify the needs of publishers. Professor Daniel Adzei Bekoe, Member of the Council of State, who launched the exhibition said distribution of books across Africa left much to be desired and that a good book hardly moved beyond the capital towns of African countries.

He called for the expansion of the book industry towards the promotion of education and development in general. Prof Bekoe said government was working closely with publishers to produce textbooks for schools adding reading was essential to the acquisition of knowledge and effective communication.

He called on publishers to publish interesting books to encourage the public, especially the youth to read.