Last year was a good year for book lovers as Japanese book retailer Kinokuniya opened up shop at Yangon Airport’s new international terminal, and plans for the ‘largest book mall in Southeast Asia’ were announced.
However, for those who prefer a more local selection to the one available at Kinokuniya and are impatient for the opening of the book mall, there’s even more good news as Yangon’s first book market is set to open this coming Saturday.
“The main aim of the book market is to encourage reading and to help promote Myanmar literature. The market will be open throughout the hot [non-rainy] season,” the Ministry of Information’s Deputy Permanent Secretary Myo Myint Maung told The Voice.
The market will stretch along Thein Phyu Road from the Secretariat compound to the Central Press building, and will be open on weekends from 9 am to 6 pm. It will be composed of over 100 stalls, including rare and vintage book shops.
For stallkeepers, stalls will be charged at a daily rate of MMK6000, and locations will be allocated through a lottery system.
Although there are tons of great book stalls scattered throughout downtown Yangon, this will be the first time that citizens will have access to several of them in just one area. This is the kind of great initiative aimed at improving daily life for locals (and not just foreigners) that we’ll hopefully see more of in 2017.
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