Report in the Course of the Attendance to Frankfurt Bookfair 1999

REPORT IN THE COURSE OF THE ATTENDANCE

TO THE FRANKFURT BOOKFAIR

FROM OCTOBER 13-18, 1999

1. On Oct. 13, 1999 the undersigned attended the seminar relating to the breakthroughs of the digital object identifier (DOI).

It was discussed during the forum that the International Publishers Association (IPA) is already on the verge of perfecting a mechanism that would provide relevant information about a book or publication through the internet by means of the assigned identifier.

1. At 11:00 A.M. of Oct. 13, 1999 the undersigned together with Atty. RodelioDascil rendered a report on the feasibility of establishing a freedom to publish regional center in the Asia Pacific . The gist of the extemporaneous report is as follows:

‘’As can be read in the papers, there appears to have been a violation of freedom to publish in various countries in Asia Pacific like Myanmar, Indonesia, Malaysia, etc.

At first glance, because of the diversified culture, historical perspectives, types of governmental structures, etc., the establishment of a regional center inAsia Pacific may not be feasible.

Unlike in Africa, where there is commonality of history or in Latin America where there may be a commonality of language, etc., the countries comprising of the Asia-Pacific may be in a different footing.

There may still be hope, however, through the intervention of the Asian Pacific Publishers Association (APPA) which has among others the following corporate objective:

‘’To work toward securing the right of the publishers to publish and distribute the works of the minds in complete freedom, provided that in so doing they respect all legal rights attached to these works within their own country and internationally.

          Likewise, one of the objectives of the International Publishers Association is similar to the foregoing.

          Countries therefore which seek memberships in the above-cited associations must unavoidably abide by the foregoing objective thus, ensuring compliance of the tenets and spirit of the Freedom to Publish Movement of the IPA.’’

In the subsequent part of the meeting, a difficult question arose on how the IPA could publish materials in time for the general assembly in Buenos Aires, Argentina on May 3-5, 2000 correlating religion and human right and/or press freedom violations without being accountable.

The Freedom to Publish Committee was convinced after the various suggestions from other member-countries that the undersigned’s suggestions to just submit a compilation of materials already written on the subject was the most practicable as the same does not fall within the ambit of libelous publication. The Committee Chairman in the presence of representatives from more than 40 countries congratulated the undersigned in the course and outside of the meeting for the effective suggestions.

• At 5:00 PM on October 13, 1999 the undersigned attended the reception at the Korean Publishers Association. He met during the gathering Mr. Takao Watanabe, the President of Japan Book Publishers Association; Mr. Kanji Maeda, VP of the Asian Pacific Publishers Association; Mr. Pere Vicens, the incoming President of IPA and other prominent book publishers in South Korea.

2000. On October 14, 1999, the undersigned with Director Felix Sario initiated talks with the Secretary General of the National Book Council of Malaysia on the feasibility of holding a dialogue on book publishing with the ASEAN member-countries this coming February, 2000. The talk culminated with the suggestions that the Philippines be the host country in the envisioned Asean dialogue. The undersigned therefore seeks the opinion of the NBDB on the matter.
2001. At 12:00 AM at the same day, the undersigned together with Atty. RodelDascil and NBDB Governors Leonardo de Castro and Edgardo Paras attended the reception tendered by the Ambassador of Spain, Jose Pedro Sebastian de Erice.

1. On October 15, 1999, the undersigned attended the launching of ‘’International Get Caught Reading Campaign’’ which is being spearheaded by the Association of American Publishers led by the former Sen. Pat Schroeder.

The essence of the project is to involve prominent personalities (like a Star War child actor appearing in one of their posters) to perform the act of reading to set as an example for others to follow.

Press and others forms of media like TV, etc. were tapped without any financial compensation to provide information on the campaign. Similarly, schools and others institutions were likewise invited to give publicity to the project. According to Senator Schroeder, the sudden increase in the sale of books and related materials could be attributed to this campaign. The undersigned realizes that similar but independent activities in the Philippines should be consolidated to attain the desired impact.

• At 4:00-6:00 PM on October 15,1999 the undersigned attended the IPA copyright forum wherein the IPA – WIPO and the WTO representatives presented the developments in their areas of concerned.

• On October 16, 1999 from 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM the undersigned attended the meeting of the Associations’ Directors. The agenda and related documents are hereby attached.

1. After the election of Mr. Pere Vicens as the new President of the IPA, the undersigned had the opportunity to congratulate him. Mr. Vicens gave suggestion to the undersigned to present a report or speech about the ‘’Textbook Situation in The Philippines and the International Agencies’’ come May 3-5, 2000 at Buenos Aires, Argentina. The undersigned was honored by this suggestion.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

1. In the future, it is recommended that the exhibitor. Like the National Book Development Board (NBDB) should set as many business appointments with international publishers listed in the exhibitors’ directory. Without these appointments, these international publishers and booksellers could hardly be reached:

• Out of the six scheduled appointments, only three were business-related and out of these three, only 2 came, namely: Dr. Poeze and Ms. TiennaOng. DrPoeze proposed to buy the books on anthropology and humanities but unfortunately they were not for sale as most of the books on display had already been donated to the Philippine Department of Tourism in Germany. Ms. TiennaOng on the other hand proposed co-publishing arrangement of Southeast Asian studies textbooks with university presses. The NBDB should therefore relate this matter to DLSU, UST, UP, Ateneo presses.

In the light of the absence of the pre-arranged appointments, the following were the only options availed of:

1. Either to depend on walk-in and wait when they would come, or;

1. To take a more aggressive move by visiting other booths and try one’s luck as to whether we will be entertained or not;

which in both instances were tedious and unproductive.

• It is, therefore, my recommendation that the BEAP and the International Division of the NBDB should as early as October 20, 1999 correspond with the international publishers listed in the directory of exhibitors of the 51^st Frankfurt International Book Fair just to set appointments for business meetings, thus ensuring many scheduled business arrangements during the whole duration of the next bookfair.

• Given the 6 exhibit days at 8 hours per day at 20 minutes per meeting would mean a total of 24 guests per day or 144 guests for 6 days. This numbered of confirmed appointments/guests would be enough reason for the majority of the delegates to stay in the boot. The setting of appointments for the 52^nd Frankfurt Book Fair 2000 should be done by the NBDB Committee or International Division on a year-round basis.

• To reiterate, this preparatory activity is indispensable to ensure maximum output during the limited 6 exhibition days as well as to serve as a basis to determine the appropriate number of personnel as well as the size of the booth;

• The confirmed meeting or appointments moreover would set the focus and directions and would help delegates in determining what materials to prepare. To give allowance to possible fall outs, at least 250-300 guests should be invited in order that we could more or less approximate the envisioned 144 guests.

2. NBDB should have a laptop computer hooked to a cellular with IDD to monitor the day-to-day business negotiations at the same time sending e-mails to the Philippines as it would require consolidated and focused efforts, delegates from government and private sectors should equally be given such facilities.

3. The partnership between the NBDB and the BEAP should continually be strengthened with the latter providing the logistics, mechanics and manpower and the former providing the funding.

4. Another pre-Frankfurt Book Fair preparations that could be made is to tap Filipino communities, associations and non-government organizations within and outside of Frankfurt.

5. The fair was an opportunity to learn from the more experienced ones in copyright selling. Such information and tips were generously provided by Jackson Tan of Pelanduk Publishers Ltd. London, who found time to share the techniques.

6. The Filipino owners of handicrafts and souvenir items could also be informed about the possibility of showcasing Philippine handicrafts for export within the vicinity of the exhibition area at the ground floor.

7. The fair is also an opportunity for printers to sell their printing services.

8. A team of 3 delegates would be fine: one to attend seminars and fora and conferences simultaneously coinciding with the exhibit, especially on international copyrights; one to man the booth attending to business meetings and negotiations; another one to go around and network with other exhibitors. For equal distributors of exposure the representatives could take turns by schedule ensuring that all three have the experience of seminars, business meeting and networking. The team of three should therefore be knowledgeable in all three aspects (business negotiations, networking and seminar) so they don’t feel handicapped when the taking of turns or switching of roles happens. This would ensure optimum results while at the same time giving integrated exposure to all the delegates.

9. Considering that the identified needed materials at the Fair are as follows: literature, novels, dictionaries, trade books, children’s books,humanities and anthropology books, linguistics books, dictionaries, women’s issues books, flora and fauna books, cookbooks, historical books, probably the government and the private sectors which are into book publishing, printing and selling could come out with projects related to the production of said materials thus coming up with a dynamic showcase of newly printed and published materials in international bookfairs not a static one showcasing similar titles annually.

10. Whoever will be in charge at NBDB booth during the exhibit should be able to set the bottomline as far as the game plan or work plan is concerned as early as six months before the scheduled fair. It must set the expectations from the government and the private sector from the very start – from planning to evaluation.

11. The undersigned wishes to congratulate Ms. Evelyn Ibasco (Secretary General of the BEAP) and some NBDB officers and staffers for the foregoing recommendations

Reported by:

ATTY. DOMINADOR D. BUHAIN

Chairman, Committee on International

Affairs, NBDB

President, Philippine Educational

Publishers Association (PEPA)

Chairman, Committee on International

Affairs (PEPA)