Okaz/Saudi Gazette

RIYADH — In a landmark initiative, the Ministry of Culture launched on Thursday the Abde'a electronic platform to issue permits and licenses to practice cultural and artistic activities. Saudi individuals and establishments that aspire to obtain licenses to practice these activities can do the procedures via the link http://abdea.moc.gov.sa, the ministry said in a statement.

The platform is an addition to the ministry’s multiple electronic services that have been launched as part of the ministry's efforts to develop the local cultural sector.

Minister of Culture Prince Badr Bin Abdullah Bin Farhan said that the platform, with the services it provides to individuals and establishments, complements the great national efforts being initiated under the leadership of Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman to strengthen the partnership with the private sector, as well as to support and enable it to fulfill its responsibilities toward the nation in various developmental fields.

“The portal comes within the objectives of the Ministry of Culture to expand the circle of cultural practitioners, raise the level of quality of academic output and enable individuals and institutions to practice cultural activities easily and comfortably so as to enhance the cultural presence in society, and allows the private sector to participate in the development of culture and its various fields,” the minister said.

In its initial version, the platform provides licenses and permits service for activities within the scope of four cultural bodies, namely, Theater and Performing Arts Authority; the Music Authority; the Literature, Publishing and Translation Authority; and the Museums Authority.

The portal will work to add licenses to other domains during the coming period, in addition to working continuously to develop and improve the user experience so as to become a center for all cultural licenses and permits with a unified interface that enables beneficiaries to submit applications easily and with complete clarity of procedures.

The platform will nurture the cultural sector by providing a reference guide for the procedures for practicing cultural activities, disseminating news related to the cultural sector, and cultural practitioners' information by classifying it according to sectors, in addition to providing additional services in its advanced stages such as the Knowledge Center service and community services, and various optional services with added value for the beneficiaries that enable them to practice cultural activities.

The Abde'a platform will provide various licenses that include artistic and cultural fields for theater, music, literature, publishing, translation, and museums. It enables those interested in the theater field to obtain a performing arts practitioner license. On the musical side, three licenses are offered — a musical practitioner; a practitioner of musical acoustics, and a practitioner of musical production. There are two licenses within the work of the Literature, Publishing and Translation Authority — a license for literary agency activity, and a literary agent license, while a license was allocated in the field of museums for an expert in the care of museum collections.

It is noteworthy that the Abdea platform will be under the supervision of the Ministry of Culture and with the operation and development of Thiqa Company, keeping pace with the highest standards of efficiency.

The platform aims to strengthen partnership with the private sector, based on the Ministry of Culture's belief in the importance of integrative work with everyone in the project to advance the Saudi cultural sector, and the need to enhance the presence of the private sector in the national culture industry.