Taipei, Feb. 11 (CNA)President Chen Shui-bian officially opened the 11th Taipei International Book Fair Tuesday. "The greatest merit of holding international book fairs in Taiwan is that it gives people a way to communicate with friends from around the world, " President Chen said in his address delivered at the Taipei International Convention Center. The book fair is one of the major book exhibitions in the world and the largest in Asia.
President Chen encouraged people engaged in the writing and publishing industry to "hang in there, " because like cultivating trees and flowers, trees will grow tall and flowers will bloom as long as the gardener is patient and does his chores right.
Lauding the Taipei International Book Fair as bringing publishers from around the world together, President Chen said he hoped that the annual event would help Taiwan's "industry of creativity" broaden its horizons into the global marketplace.
He said that nearly one-fourth of the world's population speaks Chinese, making publishers of Chinese-language books inevitably key players in the world's publishing industry.
Taiwan is one of the best environments in the world for Chinese-language writing and publications, given its democratic political system, free society and lively environment for creative and innovative work, he said.