A Day When Afghanistan's Publishing Industry
A Day When Afghanistan’s Publishing Industry Fertilized
To start his remarks about problems Iranian publishers face in exporting books from Iran to Afghanistan, Ebrahim Shariati, the managing director of Erfan Publishing Institute, said, “I need to complain that neither Iranian nor Afghan statesmen are not concerned about finding ways to solve problems of exporting books from Iran to Afghanistan. One of serious problems is the hefty costs of exporting to Afghanistan; for example the fare a publisher needs to pay to transport a container of book to Afghanistan is about 5000 USD. The Afghanistan government not only receives 3 Afghani per each kilogram, but also it has set a 7-percent tax for book importing.”
“Many years ago during royal family reign, communists and time before Taliban ruling in Afghanistan, Iranian books were being sold in Afghanistan market with 50% discount. When Hamid Karzai become president in Afghanistan, he did something in all areas except in book field, as it seemed that his cabinet was strange with this field”, Shariati said. “I seize the opportunity and ask all semi-private and semi-public institutes ask to transfer the project of exporting book from Iran to Afghanistan to private publishers and only support them; for example they can exchange books that are not sold in Afghanistan with other books.”
He also stated, “Establishing an active secretariat for Afghan publishers in Tehran is necessary. This secretariat should make Iranian publishers sure about their Afghan counterparts’ commitments and exchange unsold books with new ones.”
Pointing to the fact that good Iranian books are sold very quickly in Afghanistan, Shariati added, “Today, the publishing industry is being converted to economic firms, so software-based cooperation between Iranian and Afghan publishers is vital.” Referring to increasing growth of the higher education in Afghanistan, he stated, “Most universities in Afghanistan are active in humanities. To meet requirements of these universities including writing and translating valuable books, Afghanistan needs abundant working, human forces and capital; however, I need to confess here that Afghanistan is very weak in these areas. Therefore, it is Iranian publishers who meet most requirements of its universities.” To conclude his remarks, Shariati pointed to the increased rate of sales of Iranian books and publications in Afghanistan and said that boosting this trend needs several expert meetings and scientific researches.”
