Asean Publisher Talk OLD Biz Networking
By Rosli Abidin Yahya

Bandar Seri Begawan - Leaders of national book associations from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) spoke about issues regarding book publications in the region, in a forum on finding a common platform to promote sales and reading yesterday.

A side event of Brunei Book Fair 2007, the forum - entitled "Business Networking among ASEAN Publishers" - was chaired by Dr Mataim bin Bakar, Vice President of ASEAN Book Publishers Association (ABPA), and took place at the National Indoor Stadium of the Hassanal Bolkiah Sports Complex, Berakas.

The forum was also attended by a member of the Brunei Legislative Council Dato Paduka Hj Idris Hj Abas, and acting director of Language and Literature Bureau Dato Paduka Hj Mahmud Hj Bakyr.

The Deputy General Manager of Brunei Press Sdn Bhd, Hazizah Osman - as one of the panellists of the forum - spoke about Brunei Press, which is the biggest printing and publishing company in Brunei, and publisher of the Borneo Bulletin and Media Permata dailies.

"There are vast opportunities here for publishing and Brunei Press welcomes writers and aspiring writers to come to us to discuss how we can work together," she said. "We also look forward to have more books on art, culture and lifestyle in Brunei."

The ABPA president Thanachai Santichaikul meanwhile suggested that members of the association invest in an ABPAwebsite as a networking tool to fulfil their needs.

The ABPA Vice President (Philippines) Atty Dominador D Buhain identified the principles for effective networking, which is the identification of common grounds, as well as the mechanics on how to help individual members, the development of a connection pipeline, contributions from members and avoiding the free-loaders.

Setia Dharma Madjid, president of the Indonesian Book Publishers Association (IKAPI) said even though there are nearly 800 publishers in his country, the number could not serve the reading need of the 210 million population. "Problems on publication and readership need to be addressed. It seems that either we do not publish enough books or the people do not like reading," he said.

Arief Hakim Sam of the Malaysian Book Publishers Association called for other member countries to learn from Thailand and Indonesia's experience in translating best sellers from the West.. "The emergence of the internet as a new media platform must be embraced by the book publishing communities," he said. "ABPA arrived at the right moment to foster collaboration, learning, and networking among regional publishers."

The president of the Singapore Book Publishers Association Tan Wu Cheng said it is very important for ASEAN member countries to develop business opportunities among themselves so that "we will have a closer co-operation in co publishing and exchange of business or other mutual benefits.

Digital publication should be considered by ASEAN publishers as it can give a new lease of life to a dead publication, he added. -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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