The Ninth Tabriz International Book Fair opened here on Wednesday and will continue until October 4. Addressing the inaugural ceremony, Director General of the provincial Culture and Islamic Guidance Department, Ali Danandeh said book and book reading is one of the main concerns of cultural officials. The event seeks to help promote book reading across the country, he said, noting that some 1,000 Iranian and foreign publishers are participating in the event. Presence of distinguished foreign publishers in the event, displaying books in various fields and participation of academic publishers are among the characteristics of the event, he said. Some 100 publishers from foreign countries including Britain, Azerbaijan Republic and neighboring Arab states are participating in the event, Danandeh said. He further noted that 100,000 titles of books are currently on display at the book fair.