Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has announced the date for the opening ceremony of the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), the world’s largest museum housing the artifacts of a single civilization, RT Arabic reported.
During a dinner banquet held in his honor at the Spanish Royal Palace on Wednesday evening, Sisi said that he looked forward to the King of Spain gracing the opening ceremony of the GEM in July.
The president extended his thanks to Spain for the warm reception and hospitality for his second visit to Spain, stressing his pride in the historical relations between both countries.
Media reports previously indicated that the Egyptian government had settled on holding a grand ceremony to open the GEM on July 3.
Strong ties with Spain
Sisi arrived in Madrid on an official visit on Tuesday and met with Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Wednesday evening, where they signed a joint declaration to to establish a strategic partnership between Egypt and Spain.
The president said that Egypt is looking forward towards jointly working to implement their strategic partnership, especially strengthening economic, trade and investment relations, in light of the capabilities that both countries possess.
Egypt aspires to attract more than 18 million tourists this year after the opening of the GEM, after achieving a record number of foreign tourists last year of 15.7 million.
Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly announced earlier in February that the GEM is expected to attract at least three million tourists, noting that a plan is being implemented by the state in cooperation with the Ministry of Tourism to increase the promotion of Egyptian tourism in conjunction with the approaching opening of the museum.
