- Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism-WIPO Trust Fund Projects, Training Support For Publishers in Developing Countries -

Visang Education organized the “Performance Coaching Program with Asian Publishers within the Publishers Circle Initiative” in last September aiming at strengthening the capacity of publishing companies and promoting the publishing industry in developing countries. The follow-up seminar was held online in the format of a video conference this year.

On the 3rd of November, Visang Education, the global education & culture company (KOSPI 100220, CEO Tae-hoe Yang) announced that the “Performance Coaching Program with Asian Publishers within the Publishers Circle Initiative” follow-up seminar with the participation of four countries in Southeast Asia online was held online in the format of a video conference last month on 28th October. 

This event, which was hosted by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO, Director General Daren Tang), organized by Visang Education, and sponsored by  Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST, Minister Yang-woo Park), was planned as a part of trust fund project in the copyright field promoted by the MCST and WIPO. 

After holding the first event of the Program last year, the follow-up seminar was held to share the current status of the publishing industry and challenges in each country, assess the impact of COVID-19 on the publishing market and seek the direction in response to the current situations. 

Six publishers/publishing companies from four countries (Malaysia, Myanmar, Indonesia, and the Philippines), Visang Education, MCST, WIPO and Korean Publishers Association participated at this year’s event followed by the last year’s event.

“The Performance Coaching Program with Asian Publishers within the Publishers Circle Initiative was possible with the proactive support of the Korean government, and I hope that the Coaching Program for publishers will be actively conducted in other regions beyond Asia. The World Intellectual Property Organization will endeavor to achieve a healthy ecosystem of publishing copyrights.” the WIPO Deputy Director-General Sylvie Forbin said in her opening statement. 

Korean Publishers Association President Chul-ho Yoon said, “Visang Education organized the first Performance Coaching Program with Asian Publishers within the Publishers Circle Initiative, which was held last year. I’m happy to say that thanks to Visang Education the follow-up seminar was organized online despite the difficult conditions due to COVID-19 this year. The Korean publishing industry has also learned a lot through the Coaching Program for publishers. The Association plans to cooperate with Visang Education and four other publishers, and is committed to standing together with future events.” 

The seminar was held for about 3 hours from 5 pm to 8 pm. The participating countries made presentations on ▲ Development Trends and Tasks of Publishing Companies in 4 Southeast Asian Countries After the Coaching Program in 2019, ▲ Visang Education’s Latest Publishing Business Trends and Prospects, and ▲ Domestic Publishing Market Trends and the Impact of COVID-19. After the presentations of each country, Dimiter Ganchev, Deputy Director of the WIPO Copyright Management Division led a 30-minute discussion on the online marketing, combating online infringement, new technology trends in online education, and its impact on the publishing world, and then the event ended. 

Vice President at Vicarish Publications Vice President Virginia Camarinta, who participated in the Coaching Program held at the Visang Education Headquarters last year, said “I have learned a lot by visiting various publishing and printing sites in Korea, and gained great insights from seeing textbooks developed through investments in advanced IT technologies. In particular, the gap between the Philippines and Korea is large in the field of intellectual property rights. I will do my best to apply Korean best practices to the Philippine publishing market and practice what we have learned in Korea.” 

Ji-woong Lee, the Head of the Visang Education Market Strategy Division, made a presentation on Visang Education’s Latest Publishing Business Trends and Prospects. He said, “This year, the Korean publishing industry is experiencing great difficulties due to COVID-19. Our company also experienced a sharp decline in sales due to the spread of COVID-19 at the beginning of this year. On the one hand, sales of textbooks suplementary books for self learning showed good performance as home education and studying at home has increased. In the case of Visang, orders from online bookstores have increased due to the high market share in the existing learning book market and the preference of the Mega brand that are at the top of the best sellers. However, there are still high business uncertainties due to the prolonged COVID-19. We are struggling to overcome the crisis.” 

Regarding future plans for the Coaching Program, Dimiter Ganchev, Deputy Director of the WIPO Copyright Management Division said, “While continuing to run the Coaching Program, I want to organize separate sessions for publishers and regions in the form of Webinar. I will discuss how this event can develop while interacting with partner countries.” 

Visang Education plans to continue to cooperate with MCST, WIPO, and the Korean Publishing Culture Association to enhance exchanges and capabilities of Asian publishers.