Egypt and Japan inked a final agreement on Monday that will see the latter provide USD 460 million to fund the completion of the Grand Egyptian Museum. Egypt’s Minister of International Cooperation Sahar Nasr and Japan’s Ambassador to Egypt Takehiro Kagawa signed an exchange of letters for the second phase of the museum, while Egypt’s Minister of Antiquities Khaled Enany and the head of Japanese Agency for Development Cooperation (JICA) inked the funding agreement. Nasr commended Japan’s speed in approving the agreement to fund the construction of the museum, saying that Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi is invested in ensuring that the first phase of the museum will be open to visitors in 2017. Last year, then-Minister of Antiquities Mamdouh Al-Damaty announced that funding for the museum had run dry, as costs increased from USD 800 million to USD 1.1 billion. The increase in costs came as the EGP weakened against the USD. The Grand Egyptian Museum was set to open in 2015; however, its opening is now scheduled to take place at the end of 2017. It will be Egypt’s largest and primary museum and, spanning 117 acres, will house over 100,000…
Egypt, Japan Sign Agreement for $460 Million Loan to Complete Grand Egyptian Museum
October 24, 2016
