PROMOTION FOR THE NATIONAL BOOKS AND PUBLISHING INDUSTRY
Promotion for the national books and publishing industry in Indonesia are mostly supported by the Government via assistance in the implementation of and participation in book fairs, as well as strengthening the role of libraries. Another popular approach taken by the books and publishing industry is to host festivals for writers and other people involved in literary works. Through these efforts, the Government intends:
- to showcase the richness and improve awareness of Indonesian literature and cultural works;
- to facilitate better recognition for all stakeholders in the books and publishing industry;
- to encourage creativity through collaborations among various writers and publishers both domestically and internationally; and
- to open access for publishers and writers to new markets both domestically and abroad.
Two significant book fairs for the promotion of the Indonesian books and publishing industry are participation of Indonesia as the Guest of Honor at the 2015 Frankfurt Book Fair (FBF) and implementation of the 2015 Indonesian International Book Fair (IIBF). Being the world’s largest event for the publishing industry, FBF’s decision to invite Indonesia as the first Guest of Honor from South East Asia was monumental. Accordingly, Indonesia responded by implementing various measures, including:
- initiation of a translation funding programme that benefited about 300 Indonesian books;
- funding for 20 national publishers, including small and independent publishers, as co-exhibitors; and
- travel grants for about 70 Indonesian prominent authors.
Domestically, the IIBF is the largest book fair in Indonesia. It became an international event in 2014 by inviting Saudi Arabia as its inaugural Guest of Honor, followed by South Korea in 2015. With wide participation from foreign and domestic publishers, cultural and government institutions, national and local libraries, online and offline distributors, as well as providers of various supporting equipment, the exhibition was designed to become a one-stop literacy activity center to comprehensively promote books and copyrights, writers, cultural arts, education, tourism, and creative industries.
Beyond those two major book fairs, several CSO led festivals merit mentioning for their significant contribution to the promotion of the national books and publishing industry, which include the ASEAN Literature Festival, the Ubud Writers Festival, and the Makassar Writers Festival.
As for efforts to strengthen the role of libraries, the National Library of Indonesia (NLI) has supported the distribution of 503 mobile libraries to 33 provincial and 347 district libraries, including 8 floating libraries for 7 provinces. The NLI has also been actively utilizing digitization technology in various related efforts, which will be further elaborated in a separate section specifically focused on use of digitization technology.
Specific expected results were not available at the time of writing this report.
State budget, in the sum of about USD 11,000,000 (approximated currency conversion from Indonesia Rupiah) for participation at the 2015 FBF and about USD 300,000 (approximated currency conversion from Indonesia Rupiah) for the 2015 IIBF.