The five-day 19th Karachi International Book Fair at the city’s expo centre on Monday. The KIBF featured 330 stalls from 40 institutions in 17 countries.

Publishers offered discounts of up to 70 per cent on the last day. The Turkish stall distributed free books, drawing a large crowd.

The fair saw a significant increase in attendance and sales. Publishers reported selling a record number of books, with many stalls running out of stock. Visitors demanded more book fairs in Karachi and other Sindh cities.

Karachi Commissioner Syed Hasan Naqvi attended the closing ceremony, praising the organisers and Convener Waqar Mateen for their efforts. Coordinator Taha Jamal and Sheikh Alamgir Yousuf were also honoured with bouquets for their services.

Event Convener Waqar Mateen claimed that all records of public attendance were broken this year. He announced that future book fairs would include cultural and poetry programmes, as well as dialogues between authors.

All previous records of participation of citizens and students have been broken, he said and added: “I am grateful to the citizens of Karachi for this reception and congratulate them.”