(Photo by Mourad Heshmat)
By Ibrahim El-Masry
The Shura Council’s Committee on Culture, Media, and Tourism, chaired by Fathy Shehab, advised reducing the budget reserved for foreign arts’ companies. The committee discussed the budgets for the Cairo Opera House, the National Cultural Centre, and the Opera House’s Projects Fund.
Shehab explained the decision was due to trouble in distributing the Cairo Opera House budget.
The committee’s suggestion came after Salah El-Saigh, a member of the committee, criticised the allocation of EGP 5m for foreign arts’ companies, which was pointed out by Mohamed Abou Deif, general manager of special projects and budgets of foreign companies at the Cairo Opera House. Abou Deif also explained that the Cairo Opera House has been resorting to foreign expertise since its establishment.
Laila Mounir, a representative from the Ministry of Finance, said during the meeting that the budget for foreign companies was EGP 8m for the current fiscal year, and was then reduced to EGP 5m for next year. Shehab pointed out that local expertise can be used in place of foreign consultants. He stressed, however, that he is against the cancellation of Cairo Opera House’s activities, considering they are of a sophisticated nature and have their own audiences.
