Honoring ceremony for Japanese ambassador held in GEM

CAIRO – 15 August 2018: The Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) held on Tuesday an honoring ceremony for Japanese Ambassador, Takehiro Kagawa, on the occasion of ending his term in Egypt, according to the Ministry of Antiquities’ statement.

The honoring ceremony was attended by Minister of Antiquities Khaled al-Anani, Minister of Tourism Rania al-Mashat, Giza Governor Mohamed Kamal el-Daly, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities Mostafa Waziri, General Supervisor of the GEM Tariq Tawfiq and many other officials.




Anani praised in his speech the fruitful cooperation between Egypt and Japan in different fields, and the active role played by the ambassador for the Ministry of Antiquities to get the second loan to complete the Grand Egyptian Museum project, due to be inaugurated in 2020.

In the same context, Mashat expressed her pleasure to attend the ceremony at the GEM, which has been constructed in collaboration with Japan. She added that the museum will promote tourism in Egypt in the upcoming period.

She stressed the strong Egyptian Japanese relations, referring to the projects Japan contributed in such as Cairo Opera House and many other projects in the fields of education and health.

Ministries of tourism and antiquities invited Kagawa to attend the GEM inauguration in 2020.

The Japanese ambassador expressed his happiness with the ceremony, and his aspiration to attend the inauguration.

During the ceremony, Anani granted the ambassador a souvenir, a replica of Khufu’s ship; the Japanese mission is now working to unearth the rest of the ship, fully refurbish it, and reassure its transportation to its permanent location, the Grand Egyptian Museum.

The GEM General Supervisor Tawfik revealed on June 9, 2018, that the partial opening of the museum will be in the first quarter of 2019.

Tawfik explained that GEM’s first stage will be completed by the end of 2018. The Grand Egyptian Museum will witness for the first time the display of all Tutankhamun’s artifacts which amount to more than 5,000 pieces gathered in one place.

GEM’s lobby will host the statue of King Ramesses II and the column of his son King Merneptah, the grand staircase will include 87 royal statues and large architectural elements, including statues of kings Khafre, Menkaure, Senusret, Akhenaten and Amenhotep III.