Speaking at the opening ceremony of the Mashhad International Book Fair on Wednesday evening, he said that a deeper slowdown is seen in the book publishing industry of the country in comparison with its economic recession.
“The decline in the number of copies of books being published in the county gives a warning to those who belong to this culture, because books have always played a key role in making civilization and the criteria for social civilization,” he added, according to FT Daily.
In comparison with the last year’s figures, a 12-percent decrease is seen in the number of copies of books published in the country this year, Salehi lamented.
He said that the slowdown in the book publishing industry is more harmful than the economic recession, and asked cultural officials to increase efforts to overcome the slump.
The 17th Mashhad International Book Fair runs until November 3. A total of 500 Iranian and international publishers are displaying their latest offerings in various fields at the book fair.
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