KUALA LUMPUR: Book publishers experiencing financial difficulties in publishing books or settling printing arrears may request for funding from the Penggerak Industri Buku Negara (PIBN) fund.
Deputy Education Minister Teo Nie Ching said the fund totalling RM 17.5 million which had been allocated since 2007 could be sought through Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP).
“As of November last year, we have used RM8.3 million from the PIBN fund and there is still a surplus of RM9 million which can be applied for by publishers.
“This fund is available to any publisher as long as the reading material is in the Malay language,“ she said at during the Question and Answer session at the Dewan Negara today.
She was answering a supplementary question from Senator Sopiah Sharif who wished to know if the government had a mechanism to help book publishers who were unable to publish their books due to financial problems.
Earlier, Teo said that up to November last year, more than RM8 million of PIBN funds has been distributed to qualified publishers, and a total of 430 titles had been published using the funds.
“DBP is still extending this funding service to qualified publishers, and it has helped boost the country’s book industry, in line with Kuala Lumpur being named as the World Book Capital for the year 2020,“ she said.
This was in response to Sopiah’s original question on whether the government was still channelling funds to agencies such as DBP and the Malaysian Institute of Translation & Books (ITBM) to enhance the country’s book industry. — Bernama
