The director of Dar al-Kitab al-Islamiyah said, “We have raw materials for paper production in our country, but we are still importers, while we were supposed to become self-sufficient 30 years ago and export paper.”

Morteza Ahmad Akhoondi, the director of Dar al-Kitab al-Islamiyah Publications, told Mehr News about the situation of the paper market and its subsidies, “If the government can subsidize printing paper, it is good because it has become very difficult to buy paper due to its high price and current situation. At the same time, the number of books has dropped dramatically.”He added, “The important point is that there should be supervision so that paper subsidies are spent on publishing; a strict and accurate supervision because the publishing industry is really suffering from these conditions. At present, even if they want to start a domestic paper factory, the price of paper is high due to the global price of paper. As a result, subsidies are still needed. We should also note that in many countries, factories sell paper in the raw and pulp form.”The publisher added, “There is an important question and that is while we have paper raw materials in our country, why do we not set up paper factories? We have sugarcane, and we can use it to make paper. Of course, this plant was supposed to be accomplished 30 years ago, and we would be a paper exporter, but this expectation was not met.”Mojtaba Shahmoradi, the director of Arma Publications, told Mehr News, “In the current situation, we should rely on paper production in the country because our dependence on the outside world hurts us in all dimensions. For years, there was the talk of self-sufficiency in paper production, but in the end this demand did not materialize, and I wish they had pursued it in recent years.”He added, “A serious review of how paper is produced is another important issue that should be considered in the current situation. At present, paper is distributed quite in accordance with the economic rent, and it is natural because wherever subsidies are found, there are the ones who are abusive.”