After delays, Egypt’s new mega-museum set to open in 2020

A drone flies around a giant statue of the pharaoh Ramses II as it is relocated to the Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo. The Grand Egyptian Museum has been under construction for well over a decade and is intended to show off Egypt’s ancient treasures while attracting tourists to help fund its future development. Photo: AP

On the Giza Plateau outside Cairo, thousands of Egyptians are labouring in the shadow of the pyramids to erect a monument worthy of the pharaohs.

The Grand Egyptian Museum has been under construction for well over a decade and is intended to showcase Egypt’s ancient treasures while drawing tourists to help fund its future development. But the project has been subject to repeated delays, with a “soft opening” planned for next year scrapped in favour of a more triumphant inauguration in 2020. Costs have meanwhile soared from an initial US$650mil (RM2.7bil) to well over US$1bil (RM4.2bil), with most of the financing coming from Japan.