Malaysia Active In Book Publishing, Can Improve Further - Minister

BANGI (Selangor, Malaysia), May 29 (Bernama) -- Malaysia is active in terms of publishing books, putting it in the top 25 out of 126 countries, said Second Education Minister Idris Jusoh. However, he added, the performance was less than satisfactory, as it did not meet the standard set by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), which required 1,000 book titles per million people. Idris said according to UNESCO standards, Malaysia needed to produce 30,000 titles a year. "In 2011, for example, only about 18,000 titles were produced, and it has been like that till now, while the academic book publication rates have been slow in Malaysia," he said, here Thursday. Recognising the fact, Idris suggested that academic book publishers in the country think of more creative ways to shorten the process of publishing a book without compromising the quality of its content. "I know it is not easy to achieve this goal, as there are several challenges that need to be addressed, including the issue of allocations. "However, I believe we can achieve the goal if continued encouragement and support is given to all," he said. --BERNAMA