The five-day Karachi World Book Fair (KWBF) 2025 began at the Karachi Expo Center drawing large number of students, teachers and book lovers from across the city. It is being organised by the Pakistan Publishers and Booksellers Association (PPBA).
This year, the mega book fair event in Karachi has been renamed as earlier the event was called Karachi International Book Fair. Inaugurating the KWBF, Sindh Education Minister Syed Sardar Ali Shah said the provincial government had decided to expand budget allocation to each school as per its requirement.
He said the government had directed all schools to allocate space for library and include reading compulsory for students. He also emphasised importance of books in curriculum and said that Sweden, which had once stopped printing curriculum books, have now realised their importance and resumed publication.
He described reading as a journey of creativity, saying, “If the book dies, dreams will die too. We must not let books die.” He also recalled that after last year’s book fair, he had written to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to abolish tax on paper. He said that due to tax on papers the publishers and writers could not afford printing of their books due to high cost.
He said he always felt happy participating in the mega book fair event in Karachi and looked forward to it throughout the year. Shah urged the KWBF organisers to expand book exhibitions to other cities of Sindh.
Arts Council of Pakistan President Ahmed Shah said that seeing children’s enthusiasm at the book fair gave a renewed sense of life. He called for digitisation of old books and supporting the publishers who were publishing books on different subjects. He reiterated that the ACP had always supported positive initiatives in the country, describing books as the key to civilisation.
PPBA Chairman Kamran Noorani said efforts were under way to extend the book fair to other cities of Sindh. He announced that book fairs had been planned next year for Hyderabad, Larkana and Sukkur. He acknowledged the continued support of the National Book Foundation and expressed hope for future cooperation.
Emphasising the role of parents, he said it was their responsibility to bring children closer to books. He stressed the need for well-equipped school libraries and an environment that encourages discussion on various subjects.
The convener of the book fair, Waqar Mateen, informed the audience that the five-day event featured 140 leading Pakistani publishers and booksellers, along with 40 foreign exhibitors from 17 countries.
A total of 329 stalls have been set up at the world book fair, featuring publishers from Turkiye, Singapore, China, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates and several other countries.
The event showcases a wide range of educational, literary, scientific and children’s books. The event will continue until 22 December at the Karachi Expo Centre and would remain open daily from 10am to 9pm.
