PARIS, June 30 – Thailand’s capital city of Bangkok has been chosen as the 2013 “World Book Capital” by a selection committee including the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), it was announced after a meeting held at UNESCO’s Paris Headquarters.
Bangkok was designated to be World Book Capital in 2013 for its willingness to bring together all the various stakeholders in the book supply chain and beyond, actors involved in the publication chain for a range of projects proposed, for its community-focused and the high level of its commitment through the proposed activities, according to the committee.
“I would like to congratulate Bangkok for the rich and varied programme it has prepared and committed itself to, that gives special emphasis to young people, marginalised groups and the development of reading for all,” said UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova.
“With its accent on cooperation and dialogue, at local, national and international levels, this programme responds perfectly to the objectives of the World Book Capital project, which is attracting the attention of an increasing number of cities worldwide.”
The committee working for the World Book Capital project is composed of representatives from the International Publishers Associations (IPA-UIE), the International Booksellers Federation (IBF), the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) and UNESCO.
Every year, UNESCO and the three major branches the global book industry award the title to a city which has committed itself to promote books and reading, and to highlight the vitality of literary creativity.
The nomination does not imply any financial prize but an exclusively symbolic acknowledgement of the best programme dedicated to books and reading.
Thailand is the 13th city to be selected as World Book Capital, following Madrid (Spain, 2001), Alexandria (Egypt, 2002), New Delhi (India, 2003), Antwerp (Belgium, 2004), Montreal (Canada, 2005), Turin (Italy, 2006), Bogota (Colombia, 2007), Amsterdam (The Netherlands, 2008), Beirut (Lebanon, 2009), Ljubljana (Slovenia, 2010), Buenos Aires (Argentina, 2011) and Yerevan (Armenia, 2012) respectively. (MCOT online news)
