The 20th edition of Doha International Book Fair would kick off here next Wednesday and continue till January 09, 2010, with the participation of 24 Arab and foreign countries including Australia and Austria which are participating for the first time in the Doha fair, an official source said here Sunday. In a press statement to Qatar News Agency (QNA), the source said that some 420 publishers would be expected to participate in the fair which is due to display 86,000 books with the number of the fair pavilion reaching 780 split into the child books, foreign books and a pavilion set for the electronic computers and IT equipment. "France will be the current guest of honor displacing the United States which was last year"s guest in addition to prospects of attendance by the Former French Premier and the Former and the current French Culture Ministers," the source added.
