Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Ahmed Issa launched on Tuesday the first phase of the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir’s development project, which is carried out in cooperation between the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and the European Union.
A committee comprising a number of Egyptologists from Egyptian universities and five major European museums, namely Louvre museum, the British Museum, the Egyptian Museum in Turin, the Berlin Museum, and the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden, the Netherlands, will participate in the project.
The Minister said that the project is a message to the whole world that the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir is still developing itself, which enables it to compete with the rest of the major modern museums such as the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization and the Grand Egyptian Museum, and that it continues to perform its role And his message as an ancient cultural, educational, and civilizational edifice, adding that the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir was and will remain one of the most important museums in the world, as it is a destination for Egyptian visitors, tourists, and antiquities lovers from all countries of the world.
He mentioned that the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir is the oldest existing Egyptian institution for preserving Egyptian antiquities since its inauguration in 1902, and its rich and unique archaeological collections are considered an essential and indispensable reference for all students of Egyptology and lovers of Egyptian civilization.
The Minister praised the inauguration of this phase of the project, which represents a model of distinguished cooperation between Egypt and the European Union, with the participation of an Egyptian archaeological scientific committee and a work team from the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir, and an alliance of the 5 most important European museums to develop a new strategic vision for the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir, and to develop the museum display system for its archaeological collections in accordance with international standards and in a way that qualifies it to receive the largest possible number of visitors and tourists.
In his speech, Issa referred to the national strategy for the development of the tourism industry in Egypt, which aims to achieve rapid growth in the industry ranging from 25% to 30% annually, and one of the most important axes of which is working to improve the tourism experience in museums, archaeological sites and tourist destinations in Egypt, pointing to the Ministry’s partnerships with private sector companies to provide, operate and raise the efficiency of services provided to visitors in museums and various archaeological sites, with an emphasis on preserving the identity and distinctive character of these museums and sites, including the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir.
The Minister also stressed that the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir has not yet revealed all its secrets, as its stores still contain tens of thousands of artifacts that are waiting to be rediscovered, highlighting their beauty, and displaying them to the public.
For his part, Ambassador Christian Berger, Ambassador of the European Union, expressed in his speech his happiness at his presence today in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, representing the European Union and as a lover of the museum, which includes a wonderful archaeological collection, which he visited for the first time since 51 years, followed by many times since then.
He also described the museum development project as a difficult but rewarding task, as it is the result of cooperation between the most important Egyptian museums and a consortium of five major European museums, reviewing the most important components of this project, appreciating what has been accomplished with it.
