Jakarta, May 20, 2026 – Deputy Minister for Creative Economy/Deputy Head of the Creative Economy Agency, Irene Umar, discussed cooperation in the publishing sector and Indonesia’s participation in Frankfurter Buchmesse 2026 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, with President & Director of Frankfurter Buchmesse, Juergen Boos. The Deputy Minister emphasized that cooperation with Frankfurter Buchmesse forms part of efforts to strengthen the national publishing ecosystem.
Deputy Minister for Creative Economy, Irene Umar, received an audience with the Frankfurt Book Fair (FBF) at the Ministry of Creative Economy Office, Jakarta, on Wednesday (20/5/2026).
“Indonesia’s publishing industry possesses strong and continuously evolving narrative power. Through Frankfurter Buchmesse, the works of Indonesian writers can gain wider distribution opportunities while also opening pathways for copyright development and the transformation of works into various creative formats. These efforts are aimed at strengthening the intellectual property-based creative economy,” said the Deputy Minister during the audience held at Autograph Tower on Wednesday (20/5).
The Deputy Minister also emphasized that Indonesia’s participation in international forums such as Frankfurter Buchmesse plays an important role in strengthening the country’s position as an active actor in the global publishing industry discourse.
“Indonesia’s participation in Frankfurter Buchmesse also serves as momentum to expand more equitable global publishing industry connections while strengthening the position of Indonesian writers and national creative players within the international ecosystem,” said the Deputy Minister.
Dok. Bureau for Communication of the Ministry of Creative Economy / Creative Economy Agency.
The government continues to encourage the expansion of international cooperation through copyright trade, residency programs, co-publishing initiatives, and the development of intellectual property adaptations into films, games, and digital platforms. Meanwhile, President & Director of Frankfurter Buchmesse, Juergen Boos, stated that Indonesia is playing an increasingly significant role in the global publishing industry.
“Indonesia possesses storytelling strength and creativity that are highly relevant to global audiences. The potential for cooperation is very broad, both in book publishing and in the development of intellectual property rights and cross-media adaptations,” said Juergen Boos.
Frankfurter Buchmesse is the world’s largest book and content industry exhibition, held annually since 1949 under the tagline The World Capital of Ideas. In 2025, the event featured more than 4,350 exhibitors from 100 countries and recorded approximately 238,000 visitors. Indonesia itself served as Guest of Honour in 2015 under the theme 17,000 Islands of Imagination and has since continued to participate through its national pavilion, focusing on copyright trade and publishing networks.
Dok. Bureau for Communication of the Ministry of Creative Economy / Creative Economy Agency.
Through its participation in Frankfurter Buchmesse 2026, which will take place on October 7–11, 2026, in Frankfurt, Indonesia is expected to further expand the international exposure of Indonesian literary works while strengthening connections between the national publishing industry and global partners.
Kiagoos Irvan Faisal
Head of Bureau for Communication
Ministry of Creative Economy / Creative Economy Agency
