Antiquities, international cooperation ministers discuss mechanisms to finish GEM project

Minister of Antiquities Mamdouh el Damaty, Minister of International Cooperation Sahar Nasr and Chairman of the Armed Forces Engineering Authority Kamel el Wazir discussed the latest developments in the construction of the mammoth project of the Grand Egyptian Museum as the Egyptian government is attaching special importance to it in the coming phase.

The meeting, held at the Restoration Center at the GEM, probed the work mechanism to remove all impediments facing the completion of the project in cooperation with the Japanese side.

The attendees also discussed the possibility of finalizing the first phase of the project to be partially inaugurated in 2018.

In statements to MENA, Tareq Tawfiq, who is in charge of overseeing the project, said 35 percent of the project has been finalized, asserting that work is going on round the clock to partially inaugurate it as scheduled in 2018.

The museum is sited on 50 hectares (120 acres) of land approximately two kilometers from the Giza pyramids and is part of a new master plan for the plateau.

The new museum is designed to include the latest technology, including virtual reality. The Museum will also be an international center of communication between museums, to promote direct contact with other local and international museums. The Grand Egyptian Museum will include a children's museum, conference center, training center, and workshops similar to the old Pharaonic places.