A record 883 publishers from 58 countries will attend the Taipei International Book Exhibition, set to open at the Taipei World Trade Center Wednesday. Vice President Vincent Siew will address the opening ceremony, which will be attended by many renowned writers from home and abroad. 'The TIBE has become one of the most important annual exhibitions in Asia and plays important role in cultural communication, ' said Linden Lin, chairman of the Taipei Book Fair Foundation. While France is the theme country this year, Israel and six Central American countries are also presenting large varieties of literature at the weeklong exhibition, Lin said. Many foreign publishers who have learned that Taiwanese publishers are keen to translate books of other languages into Chinese for local readers are interested in cooperation, he went on. As books translated from Hebrew are rare in Taiwan, the Israel Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei has invited Nilli Cohen, president of the Institute for the Translation of Hebrew Literature, to promote copyright ideas in Taipei, he added. 