Two years ago, on this sad day, our publishing colleague, Lebanese publisher, Lokman Slim was assassinated. Lokman co-founded Dar Al-Jadeed publishing house in Lebanon with his sister, Rasha Al Ameer.

The theme for UNESCO’s 2023 International Day of Education is ‘to invest in people, prioritize education’. I know what UNESCO Is getting at, but I would argue that their statement could easily be turned around: ‘in order to prioritize education we need to invest in people.’

What a feeling - the exhilaration (and a little relief after chairing the programming committee) – following the end of the 33^rd International Publishers Congress. After nearly 2 years of preparations we had over 600 delegates and speakers registered from 63 countries to Jakarta to discuss, dissect, analyse and celebrate our international publishing sector.