Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Egypt requests assistance of Egyptian expertise in restoration of manuscripts

CAIRO – 25 August 2021: Head of the National Library & Archives Nevin Mohamed Moussa received on August 25 Khairat Lama Sharif, the ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Cairo, at the Egyptian National Library and Archives.

The ambassador expressed his country's desire to establish several joint cooperation projects with the National Library and Archives. These projects shall include the organization of a major international symposium dealing with the history of joint relations.

Also, the ambassador requested the assistance of the distinguished technical and scientific experts of the Egyptian National Library and Archives in the field of classification, indexing and restoration of manuscripts in the Kazakh National Library. The library has acquired a collection of manuscripts that include the heritage of Al-Bukhari, Al-Farabi and Al-Biruni.

Moreover, Sharif expressed Kazakhstan's need for the Egyptian expertise in restoration, as the Kazakh Library includes nearly 3,000 manuscripts in need of restoration and indexing.

For her part, Nevin Mohamed Moussa welcomed the cooperation with the Kazakh National Library through exchanging technical expertise in cataloging, classifying and restoring manuscripts, in addition to holding a joint international symposium. Moussa suggested that Egypt National Library & Archives organizes an exhibition of pictures and paintings of Mamluk mosques and monuments, which were built by Mamluks of Kazakh origin.

Furthermore, Moussa  offered that the Egyptian National Library & Archives provide its Kazakh counterpart with a number of distinguished books and publications, which include a number of publications of the Heritage Investigation Center.

The President of the Kazakh National Library is scheduled to visit the Egyptian National Library & Archives soon to discuss the details of the joint cooperation projects, as well as the details of participation in the celebration of the 30thanniversary of Kazakhstan's independence and the establishment of Egyptian-Kazakh relations.

The meeting witnessed the two parties' affirmation of the joint cultural interaction between the two countries and the importance of the Arab tributaries in the Kazakh heritage. 

At the end of the meeting, the ambassador presented to the National Library & Archives an illustrated book on the holdings of the National Museum of Kazakhstan.