The Books exports council aims to increase Egyptian books' exports by 15 percent in 2017, head of the council Ahmed Helal said.

In exclusive statements to MENA on Sunday, Helal added that Egypt exported books only worth US USD 19 million only in 2016, compared to non-petroleum exports worth USD 20 billion,

This comes after conflicts in Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Libya and also due to the forging of books phenomenon, he added.

He also called for enhancing censorship on books and raising the awareness concerning Intellectual Property Rights.