The Information Affairs Authority (IAA) has, in the first half of 2014, permitted the entry of 54,905 book titles from various fields of knowledge, with a total of 1,220,170 copies.
It also approved 201 local publications, 22 scripts of plays, TV serials and short films and 192 films and finalised the procedures to import 9,886 audio-visual materials, IAA’s Director of Mass Media Yussef Mohammed Ismail said.
He added that statistics reveal a remarkable rise in the cultural activities in the country in the first half of this year, compared to the same period of last year, which reflects the growing interest of the Bahraini public in diverse cultural publications and the increasing investments in them, asserting the Mass Media Directorate’s keen interest to ensure easy transactions, in accordance with the legal norms.
He said that the transaction of various 1,090 commercial activities had been completed thanks to the "fruitful" cooperation with the Investors’ Centre and the Customs Directorate at the Ministry of Interior.
Regarding efforts to protect intellectual property and reduce commercial and satellite piracy, he said that the directorate has paid 309 field visits and confiscated 87,000 audio-visual materials for violating the law and social ethics.
He added that a number of outstanding books had been printed, reprinted and published, as part of IAA’s keenness to back Bahraini writers and researchers and enrich the Bahraini Library.
"IAA participated in the Dialogue among Civilisations Conference with publications and published a book 'Dialogue among Civilisations: A Vision of a King' as well," he also said.