Frankfurt Book Fair takes a peek at PH publishing

THE National Book Development Board (NBDB) welcomed Frankfurt Buchmesse and German publishers as they conducted «Gear Up» on Wednesday at Luxent Hotel in Quezon City.

Gear Up is a preparatory program to help publishers and creatives find opportunities for their publications and content.

The initiative is a collaborative undertaking of the NBDB, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, the Department of Foreign Affairs, and the Office of Senate President Pro Tempore Loren Legarda.

German publishers are in Manila as part of their creative tour in Southeast Asia.

Delegates from Suhrkamp Verlag, Verlag Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Verlag Herder, Mairisch Verlag, Alexander Verlag, and Mohr Siebeck met with various Filipino book publishing industry creatives to explore business opportunities following the announcement of the Philippines as the Guest of Honor for the 2025 Frankfurt Book Fair.

In an interview with The Manila Times, NBDB Executive Director Charisse Aquino-Tugade said that the Philippines is not only entering the German market but the international market in general.

«Frankfurt Buchmesse is the largest international book fair,» Aquino-Tugade said.

«We are not only entering the German market. We are entering the international market.» «People are looking at our products and seeing what products match,» she said. «It's really about finding the right match. Maybe you can talk to 20 publishers and not be interested, but there will be one publisher that is interested.»

Aquino-Tugade said that people are interested in Philippine culture.

«Anything that has to do with our history and mythology or all of that. People are interested in our illustrations,» she said.