IPA Congress 2018: India edition comes to a close

The next edition of the Congress will be held in Norway in 2020.

Coming from an international exposure towards an innovative cultural amalgamation, the 32nd edition of the Congress introduced a powerful discourse amongst leading players in the Indian publishing industry. The Indian publishing industry has witnessed a sea-change that warrantees global recognition and this event aimed to bring both recognition and a healthy sense of learning to the industry.

IPA executive committee member and chairman of Indian academic publisher PHI Learning, Asoke k Ghosh, led the bid to host the 2018 IPA Congress. He said,

“We’re thrilled to announce a closure to this glittering event, filled with gaiety and power. The Indian literary Diaspora has proved time and again the power it holds amongst the literary circle. This event is yet another feather in India’s crown of glory and we thank all the participants and audience to make this event a spectacular success.”

JS Rajput, former director general, NCERT, said, “Publishers should persuade brilliant minds to write so that the quality of the content can be improved, especially in the education publishing, publishers should focus on the feedback of the teachers and students.”

Since the first IPA Congress was held in 1896, in Paris, the event has attracted the world’s leading publishers. Today it continues to offer a vital platform for publishers to discuss the industry’s most important challenges, network and learn.

The Federation of Indian Publishers is the representative body of publishers in English, Hindi and other regional languages with its membership from all over India, representing more than 80% of the publishing industry. All the leading publishers of the country are its direct members, other publishers being represented through various local associations. Since its inception, the Federation has become the national representative body of the Indian Publishing Industry and is growing stronger and stronger day by day. Internationally also, the Federation has played an important role. India is considered and respected as a great publishing nation all over the world.

The International Publishers Association (IPA) is the world’s largest federation of national, regional and specialist publishers’ associations. Its membership comprises of 70 organisations from 60 countries in Africa, Asia, Australasia, Europe and the Americas.

Through its members, IPA represents thousands of individual publishers around the world who service markets containing more than 5.6 billion people. Based in Geneva, Switzerland, IPA represents the interests of the publishing industry in globally for and wherever publishers’ interests are at stake.

IPA’s initial aim was to ensure that countries throughout the world showed respect for copyright, and properly implemented the (then) new international copyright treaty, the ‘Berne Convention for the protection of literary and artistic works’. And today, the promotion and defence of copyright is still one of IPA’s main objectives.

Since its foundation, IPA also promotes and defends freedom to publish, a fundamental aspect of the human right to freedom of expression. Likewise, IPA stands for the promotion of literacy and reading, and has always been a meeting place for publishers to network, exchange views and conduct business.IPA is an accredited non-governmental organization (NGO) enjoying consultative relation with the United Nations.