Tourism Minister Receives Director of UNESCO Office in Cairo

Dr. Khaled El-Anani, Minister of Tourism & Antiquities, received today morning, Monday, at the ministry’s headquarters in Zamalek District, Cairo, Dr. Ghaith Fariz, Director of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Regional Office in Cairo.

The UNESCO official was keen to meet the Minister to bid him farewell before the end of his term as Director of the UNESCO Regional Office in Cairo.

Dr. Khaled El-Anani began the meeting by welcoming Dr. Ghaith Fariz, praising the fruitful and effective cooperation between Egypt and UNESCO.

It is worth noting that Egypt is one of the founding countries of UNESCO, and the Cairo office is the first regional office to be established for the organization outside Paris, the capital city of France, and the second office to be established in the world after Paris.

The Minister of Tourism and Antiquities referred to a number of projects that have been carried out in cooperation with the UNESCO, including the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Fustat and the Nubian Museum in Aswan, and a project to improve the means of display and interpretation of cultural sites in Egypt.

The project aims to enhance the experience of Egyptian and visitors by improving the presentation of cultural sites in Egypt along interpretation of sites with explanatory and introductory panels.

This is in addition to the expansion in the field of training and capacity-building of people in the field of antiquities and heritage preservation, and the establishment of a number of events, including the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the UNESCO Regional Office in Cairo in 2019, and hosting the Director-General of UNESCO to attend the partial opening of the Museum of Civilization in 2017, and the celebration of the parade of the royal mummies in last April.

Meanwhile, the UNESCO Regional Director in Cairo stressed his appreciation for the effective role played by the Egyptian state in preserving its archaeological and cultural heritage in its museums and archaeological sites, and the great interest of the Egyptian government in this regard.

He also appraised the rehabilitation and opening of a number of existing museums, in addition to raising the efficiency of a number of archaeological sites and announcing many impressive archaeological discoveries, as well as holding a ceremonial parade of the royal mummies, describing it as an exceptional event that dazzled the world.

The Minister of Tourism and Antiquities stressed that the Egyptian state places its antiquities and heritage at the top of its priorities, as it receives unprecedented support from the political leadership that has enabled the ministry to implement a large number of archaeological projects, and a World Heritage Sites Management Committee was established in 2018.

This committee was headed by an assistant of President of the Republic for national and strategic projects.

Translated by Ahmed Moamar