The committee in charge of international book industry named the South Korean city of Incheon the "World Book Capital" for the year 2015, announced the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Friday.
The nomination was made by an international committee of experts representing the book industry and UNESCO, who met on July 16 at the Paris headquarters of UNESCO.
UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova endorsed the committee's decision and welcomed the number and quality of applications received by UNESCO for the title of World Book Capital 2015.
The nomination does not imply any financial prize, but an exclusively symbolic acknowledgement of the best programme dedicated to books and reading.
Since 2001 when Madrid was the first to win the title, UNESCO and the international organizations representing the three major sectors of the book industry -- the International Publishers Association (IPA), International Booksellers Federation (IBF) and the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) -- select every year the World Book Capital for a one-year period.
This initiative, in addition to the celebration of World Book and Copyright Day, represents a collaborative undertaking by key stakeholders in the publishing world and cities to promote books and literacy.
Incheon comes as the 15th city to be to crowned with "World Book Capital," after Bangkok in 2013 and Port Harcourt in 2014.
(Source: Xinhua)
