The Vietnam International Book Fair is held every two years by the Ministry of Information and Communications helping Vietnamese publishers to publicize their products and learn management experiences from foreign colleagues. This year’s event attracted 100 Vietnamese and foreign publishers including well-known publishers such as Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, and the Hachette Book Group from the US.

The Director of the World Publishing House Tran Doan Lam said that the fair created a good opportunity for Vietnamese publishers to meet with foreign partners, seek partners and sign copyrights agreements on imported books which are mostly research, foreign language and literary books.  Mr. Lam said:“Some book fairs are held to introduce books and book authors and promote reading culture. Others want to increase copyrights transactions and exhibit books. Vietnamese book fairs are aimed at both promoting the reading culture and publishing and enhancing publication transactions”.

The number of imported and translated books is much higher than those of Vietnam’s exported books. Not many foreign readers are familiar with Vietnamese books except for the Tale of Kieu of Nguyen Du and some literary books about the wars. Hoang Anh Tu has written a number of books on the psychology of adolescents.“Vietnam has 90 million people. A reading culture is being promoted and I believe that Vietnam will have more books known to the world in the near future. The more publishers participate in the market, the better books we will have”.

Vietnam has signed cooperative agreements with publishers in Russia, China, Laos, and Cuba. Vietnam is a member of the ASEAN Publishing Association and the International Book Code Organization. They are the a favorable condition to boost cooperation between Vietnamese publishers and foreign partners.

To make Vietnamese books better known internationally, Vietnamese publishers have continuously participated in international book fairs, focusing on improving the quality of books, their translation and promotion. Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Truong Minh Tuan said:“The Vietnamese publishing sector needs to further promote Vietnamese publications overseas to help increase links between Vietnamese people inside and outside Vietnam. We also need to import good foreign publications to Vietnam to meet the needs of study, research and accessing the knowledge and culture of other countries”.

In past years, the Vietnam International Book Fairs have helped Vietnamese publishers to meet foreign partners and foreign publishing associations, access new technology, and exchange copyrights. The promotion of Vietnamese books at book fairs in Vietnam and overseas will balance the import and export of books and introduce Vietnamese books to the world in different languages.