YASOUJ, Kohkilouyeh-Boyerahmad Deputy Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Ahmad Ramezanpour said here Saturday that cultural products can provide well once the freedom of expression for their creators is secured.

He made the remarks in Yasouj to attend the inauguration ceremony of a nationwide book fair, IRNA reported. The first prerequisite for promotion of book reading habit, is securing the freedom of expression in the country.

He said, "People have beliefs that are respectable and extremely important and that is why they will accept the words of an intellectual or a writer who respects their beliefs."

Ramezanpour added, "Only 72 publishers participated at the first Yasouj Book Fair four years ago, and this year there are nearly 400 publishers at this fourth fair."

He considered the book publication boost during the past four years in Iran as a noteworthy phenomenon, arguing, "in 1997 less than 70 million volumes of books were published in Iran, while the figure last year exceeded 117 million copies."

Ramezanpour pointed out that the religious and literary works had the largest share in the increased volume of Iran's publications with 60 percent increase only during the past Iranian year (started March 21).

He predicted a ten percent increase in Iran's book publications during the current Iranian year.