International book fair 2016 organised by the Pakistan Publishers and Book Sellers Association in association with National Book Foundation has started at Karachi Expo Center on Thursday. It is 12th exhibition, where local and foreign publishers are showcasing their books and other products. A number of publishers from Iran, India, Turkey, Singapore, China, Malaysia, the UK and United Arab Emirates are participating in this book fair.
Sindh Education Minister Jam Mehtab Hussain Dahar and Mayor Karachi Waseem Akhtar inaugurated the book fair. According to the organisers, publishers from all over Pakistan and abroad are showcasing their books and other products at over 330 stalls set up in three halls of the Expo Center. Thousands of books published in Urdu, English, Arabic, Punjabi, Sindhi, Gujrati, Persian and other languages are being presented on these stalls.
Sindh Eduction Minister appreciated the efforts being made for promotion of books in the society. He said the book fair will be helpful for inculcating book reading habit on the society. Mayor Karachi Waseem Akhtar suggested that the Education Department should organise book fairs on district level in all over province to increase book reading trend among the students of the province. The organisers claimed that over 100,000 people visited book fair on the first day and it is expected thousands of people will visit the five-day event that will conclude on December 19, 2016.