KL named World Book Capital 2020 by Unesco

KUALA LUMPUR: Kuala Lumpur was named World Book Capital for the year 2020 by United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

UNESCO in a statement on its website yesterday said, the capital of Malaysia was selected because of the strong focus on inclusive education, the development of a knowledge-based society and accessible reading for the city’s population.

According to the statement, Kuala Lumpur’s application was accepted by an Advisory Committee, comprising representatives of the International Publisher’s Association (IPA), the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) and UNESCO.

Cities designated as UNESCO World Book Capital will undertake to promote books and reading and to organise activities over the year.

Kuala Lumpur is the 20th city to bear the title since 2001.

Past winners include Madrid (2001), Alexandria (2002), New Delhi (2003), Anvers (2004), Montreal (2005), Turin (2006), Bogota (2007), Amsterdam (2008), Beirut (2009), Ljubljana (2010), Buenos Aires (2011), Erevan (2012), Bangkok (2013), Port Harcourt (2014), Incheon (2015), Wroclaw (2016), Conakry (2017), Sharjah (2019), and Athens (2018).

The year of celebrations will start on 23 April 2020, on the World Book and Copyright Day.

The statement also stated that the slogan “KL Baca – caring through reading”, will focus on four themes: reading in all its forms, development of the book industry infrastructure, inclusiveness and digital accessibility, and empowerment of children through reading.