The new Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) was recently recommended by none other than National Geographic magazine for tourism enthusiasts around the world. Nat Geo has also encouraged travelers to add Egypt to their top destinations’ list of 2023, due to the country’s rich cultural heritage.
Within his framework at the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, Khaled Mostafa, Director of the Prehistoric Antiquities Department, indicated that Arab countries were initially entrusted to fund the construction of GEM.
Saudi and Kuwaiti developments have supplied the museum with many facilities and was set to complete the funding process. Although when the funding provided by these developments was delayed, Egypt had to rely on various donors.
Taking the initiative, Japan, who believed in the importance of a project of this magnitude, showed interest to offer financial support to the Museum. Around 8.8 B Japanese yen or $800 M were provided by the JICA Foundation.
Mostafa also mentioned that the idea of establishing the Grand Museum was first presented in 1993. Back then, former Minister of Culture, Farouk Hosni, joined by Dr. Abdel Halim Nur El-Din had made the decision to build the biggest museum in the world.
The archaeological museum located in Giza, stands on an area of 117 acres; it’s the new home of Tutankhamun treasures. The Nat Geo magazine referred to it as a modern Egyptian Pyramid built by the handy of Egyptians. This honor serves as a huge step towards promoting tourism in Egypt, which is a forefront to the entire Arab Civilization.
