The Restu Foundation aims to print and distribute 500,000 copies of the Quran by the end of this year, said Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Religious Affairs) Datuk Dr Mohd Na'im Mokhtar.
He said this is the first phase of the initiative which was implemented following Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's statement last January that Malaysia will issue one million copies of the Quran to be distributed around the world as a response to the burning of the holy book in Sweden.
"The holy books will be printed and distributed in two phases and we are targeting 500,000 copies for each phase.
"For the first phase (until the end of this year), Restu Foundation is publishing and printing the translation of the Quran in Swedish, English, Latin Spanish, Chinese or Mandarin, Khmer, French, Tamil, Tagalog and Hindi languages.
"The remaining 500,000 are expected to be completed in the second phase starting next year," he told the media after flagging off the 'Infak dan Wakaf Satu Juta Al-Quran' container here today.
He said the foundation is in need of an allocation of RM38 million to print and publish one million copies of the Quran.
"The cost for each Quran is about RM30 per copy, while the delivery and distribution cost is RM8 per copy," he said, adding that 300,000 copies of the Quran will be sent to countries such as India and Australia next month.
Source: BERNAMA News Agency