Deutsch The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) today invited the world's press to attend the 63rd World Newspaper Congress, 17th World Editors Forum and Info Services Expo 2010, to be held in Beirut, Lebanon, from 7 to 10 June 2010.

It will be the first time the annual Congress will be held in the Arab world.

The invitation to the events, to be hosted by Lebanon's An-Nahar newspaper, was issued at the Annual General Meeting of WAN-IFRA, being held at this year's World Newspaper Congress, World Editors Forum and Info Services Expo 2009 in Hyderabad, India.

"The time is right for the world's press to meet in the Arab world, which has so much influence on world affairs, where the media is developing at a rapid rate, but which continues to struggle with repression of the basic human right to freedom of expression," said Timothy Balding, co-CEO of WAN-IFRA.

"And it is particularly appropriate to hold these meetings in Beirut, where the independent press has played a leading role for freedom and the right to speak out, not only in Lebanon, but in the entire Arab world," he said.

Beirut, on the Mediterranean coast, is one of the world's most beautiful and cosmopolitan cities. Lebanon is home to some of the world's oldest cultural sites, and is the birthplace of the first written alphabet. It is renown for its cuisine and its dynamic people. Though it has suffered from war and sectarian strife, it is undergone massive redevelopment and recovery.

WAN-IFRA, based in Paris, France, and Darmstadt, Germany, with subsidiaries in Singapore, India, Spain, France and Sweden, is the global organisation of the world's newspapers and news publishers. It represents more than 18,000 publications, 15,000 online sites and over 3,000 companies in more than 120 countries. The organisation was created by the merger of the World Association of Newspapers and IFRA, the research and service organisation for the news publishing industry.

Inquiries to: Larry Kilman, Director of Communications and Public Affairs, WAN-IFRA, 7 rue Geoffroy St Hilaire, 75005 Paris France. Tel: +33 1 47 42 85 00. Fax: +33 1 47 42 49 48. Mobile: +33 6 10 28 97 36. E-mail: larry.kilman@wan-ifra.org.