"IFRA India 2006"INS conference focussing on growth opens

Chennai, Sep 13 (UNI) ''Ifra India 2006'', the 14th Ifra India Annual Conference and Exhibition co-sponsored by the Indian Newspaper Society (INS), was inaugurated here today.

The two-day conference on newspaper industry comprises Publishers Forum aimed at the owners and top managers with the focus on the vision for growth and new media opportunities and the Technical Forum aimed at the technical people in the publishing sector with focus on press and PDF in pre-press.

Managing Director of the English daily, 'The Hindu' N Murali, who welcomed the gathering, appreciated Ifra's change in focus from technical excellence to the intersection of technical, business and editorial aspects for the holistic growth of the industry.

Though the newspaper industry sees a frenetic growth in India, only 65 per 1000 adult population read newspapers, where as in Japan and Scandinavian countries it was 600 per 1000, he said, quoting the Newspapers Readership Survey.

''So, in India, the potential for growth is to target people who can read but do not read. Compared to other nations, the price of newspapers in India are nominal as the major part of the revenue is through advertising'', he said.

It was now the right time for the industry to go digital and pay attention to its business models for better future, he added.

Mr Reiner Mittelbach, CEO, Ifra, Darmstadt, Germany, in his key note address stressed on the importance of new ways of thinking from multi-perspective to reach the target audience best.

''It requires integration of traditional and new media.

Nowadays, it is necessary for the industry to maximize the value and comfort for the audience from the media as they demand information as well entertainment. The reach of news when it goes online is tremendous,'' he said.

Editor and Director, Deccan Herald, Bangalore K N Shanth Kumar Bangalore, presented a memento to the keynote speaker.

More than 400 delegates from India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Kuwait, Singapore, Japan, US, Australia, Germany and also Pakistan, a first-time participant, were present. The conference also features Expo with 42 stalls by manufacturers and service providers from India and abroad.

UNI GV VV PA VC1922