TEHRAN -- Iran launched its first world manuscripts data bank during a ceremony held on Monday at the venue of Iran National Library and Archives (INLA).

Yerik Utembayev, Ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan to Iran, INLA director Ali-Akbar Ash’ari, director of Miras-e Maktub Research Center Akbar Irani and several numbers of Iranian experts on manuscripts attended the ceremony.
Ambassador Utembayev, who had attended the ceremony as one of the representatives of ECO member countries, gave the opening address and called the establishment of the data bank a significant event.
He went on to say, “Iran and Kazakhstan enjoy bilateral cultural relations. The visit President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev paid last year to the Iran National Library and Archives indicates that we pay close attention to books and the national archives, and also to cultural relations with Iran. “
He continued that the ECO region possesses rare and invaluable manuscripts and that more research work is required to cover the entire region, adding, “The data bank can be of great help in this area.”
Akbar Irani was the next to address the attendees and expressed his happiness over seeing such an event in the country, adding, “Today is a day to celebrate manuscripts. I proclaim this day a day of recognition of the importance of Iran’s contribution to civilization.”
Irani expressed his gratitude to the young project executive Naser Golbaz and that he appreciated his diligent efforts in launching the project.
Following his address, Golbaz talked more about the project. He said that at present, the bank has collected data on more than 280,000 manuscripts from around the world, adding, “Iran maintains a collection of manuscripts that contains the largest number among the countries of the world. Iran has also made the most strenuous efforts in collecting the manuscripts.”
The ceremony ended with the presentation of a plaque of honor to Golbaz for his nine years of activities in launching the project.