Under the banner Shaping the future: innovation meets experience, the three-day event will be kicked off by the Honorable Minister for Science and Technology, Dr Harsh Vardhan, and the Honourable Minister for Commerce and Industry, Mr Suresh Prabhu.

Some of the high-level speakers at the Congress include:

  • Francis Gurry – Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO)
  • Maria Pallante, CEO of the Association of American Publishers
  • Jennifer Clement, President of PEN International

The award ceremony for the 2018 IPA Prix Voltaire will also take place during the Congress, where Swedish/Hong Kong publisher, Gui Minhai, so recently seized from a train in China while accompanied by Swedish diplomats, will be recognised for his commitment to freedom to publish.

The full programme is available online. The Congress can be followed on twitter under the hashtag #IPAcongress2018

The Congress will close with the announcement of the host city for the congress in 2020.

Quotes
Asoke Gosh, Chairman and Managing Director of PHI Learning Private Limited said: “We are honoured to bring our international colleagues to New Delhi. The challenges our industry face are increasingly global and we need to work together to shape a bright future for our sector and generations of readers to come.

Michiel Kolman, IPA President said: “It’s great to bring the Congress back to India with a strong emphasis on promoting copyright and defending freedom to publish. These are issues that are important locally, regionally and globally and the programme is bursting with great speakers to tackle them.

Press contact: James Taylor, taylor@internationalpublishers.org, + 41 79 821 22 30

About IPA
The International Publishers Association (IPA) is the world’s largest federation of publishers’ associations. Established in 1896, the IPA is an industry body with a human rights mandate. The IPA’s mission is to promote and protect publishing and to raise awareness of publishing as a force for economic, cultural and social development. Working in cooperation with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and numerous international NGOs, the IPA champions the interests of book and journal publishing at national and supranational level. Internationally, the IPA actively opposes censorship and promotes copyright, freedom to publish (including through the IPA Prix Voltaire), and literacy.

About the International Publishers Congress
The International Publishers Congress is held every two years. The Congress sponsors for 2018 are Sharjah Book Authority, Chapter Vitamins, S. Chand Group, Wiley, Cambridge University Press, MBD Group, The London Book Fair, All About Book Publishing, Repro, PHI, Eastern Economy Editions, Delhi Book Store and Outlook Group. Full details of the Congress can be found here.