The Biggest Islamic Book Fair in Indonesia Attracts Foreigners

The committee members of Islamic Book Fair (IBF) 2017 pose together after a closing ceremony at Jakarta Convention Centre, on Sunday (7/5) night. Photo: MINA

Jakarta, 11 Sya’ban 1438/8 May 2017 (MINA) – The biggest Islamic book exhibition in Indonesia, Islamic Book Fair (IBF) 2017, has drawn praise from the international community as the number of visitors to the exhibition is beyond expectation.

This was delivered by the Chairman of Indonesian Publisher Association (IKAPI) Hikmat Kurnia, who revealed that on the second day of the event, guests from Middle East countries expressed their willing to join the next year’s IBF.

“Alhamdulillah we have guests from Middle East countries as well as Asia, they told us this event was extraordinary. They’re enthusiastic to join the next year IBF. I think this is a very important moment for the Indonesian book publishing world and IBF team itself because we drew international attention,” Hikmat told Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MNA) right after the closing ceremony of IBF in Jakarta Convention Center, Sunday (7/5).

Furthermore, the Chairman of IBF, M Anis Baswedan said, there are hundreds of thousands visitors coming to the exhibition.

“Alhamdulillah, this is extraordinary. We as the organisers was surprised by the enthusiastic visitors whoise number is estimated to reach 100,000, and this is increasing from year to year,” said Anis.

He added, IBF has become not only a book exhibition but also a cultural exchange for the pluralistic country like Indonesia.

“Not only a book fair, but it is a place of knowledge exchange through seminars, talk shows, and also a place where scholars meet It becomes a center of civilization,” he stressed.

There were at least 327 book publisher in the country were showing off their books during the five-day exhibition.(L/RE1/RS5)