VietNamNet Bridge – The HCM City’s 10th biennial Book Expo welcomed 1 million readers from the city and neighbouring provinces, an increase of 10 per cent compared to the last event.

Perusing pages: Young people look at books at the HCM City’s 10th biennial Book Expo. VNS Photo by Phuong Mai

Speaking at the closing ceremony on Sunday night, Truong Van Hien, General Director of the Sai Gon Culture Company, and head of the expo’s organisation board, said: “The HCM City Book Expo is not only a festival for the country’s publishers and book distributors, but also a great cultural event for the city and neighbouring provinces.”

This year, the seven-day expo earned more than VND60 billion (US$2.6 million) in revenue, an increase of 20 per cent compared to the previous event.

The best-selling publications included Vietnamese book Origin, the latest novel by American author Dan Brown, published by the Labour Publishing House. 

Trac Nha’s book Kheo An Kheo Noi Se Co Duoc Thien Ha (Best Words for Life) published by the Literature Publishing House, and Rosie Nguyen novel’s Tuoi Tre Dang Gia Bao Nhieu (Youth Costs How Much) from the Literature Association’s Publishing House were among the bestsellers.

Rosie’s book was also granted the Best Book prize given by the HCM City Book Distribution Company (FAHASA) at the expo based on readers’ votes at 100 FAHASA book stores from January 15 to March 4.

The event offered nearly 100 sideline activities such as talk shows and forums about reading and technologies, as well as book introductions and signing ceremonies.

Best-selling authors and cultural researchers such as Nguyen Nhat Anh, Pham Hoang Quan and Japanese author Morita Kisetsu took part in the activities.

The HCM City Book Expo was organised by the city’s People’s Committee from March 19-25 at Le Van Tam Park in District 1.

It featured 300,000 titles in all fields, including hundreds of new titles, and displayed 3 million copies sold at discounts of up to 70 per cent at 900 stalls.

More than 180 international and Vietnamese publishers, distributors, and other companies participated.

The major foreign names included Cambridge, Oxford University Press, National Geographic, Heuber, Kinokuniya, Mifflin Harcourt and Macmillan. 

The HCM City General Publishing House, National Politics Publishing House, Tre (Youth) Publishing House and Phuong Nam Book were among the Vietnamese companies.

Source: VNS