"Recently we've had a crisis in the book industry. The crash of the biggest book shop chain and losses accumulated with it have imposed the need to have all available funds redirected to offset the current consequences of this situation," Plenkovic said at the opening of Interliber.
"I think we've succeeded, primarily owing to amazing efforts mede by the Culture Ministry," said Plenkovic who was accompanied by Culture Minister Nina Obuljen Korzinek, State Assets Minister Goran Maric and Environment Minister Tomislav Coric.
The PM also underscored that the government was drawing up a series of programmes and measures to be financed by European funds which will make the national Strategy to encourage reading, which the government adopted last week, operational.
Interliber, which is being held at the Zagreb Trade Fair Centre until November 12, is a literary event that brings together the most important publishers and librarians and serves as a platform for the promotion of books, writers, reading, research and knowledge.
This year exhibitors come from Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, China, Croatia, France, Germany, Iran, Italy, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, the USA and the UK.
They are presenting their books on an exhibition area of more than 13,000 square metres.
Admission is free.
The fair will also include encounters with authors and various educational programmes.