22-4-2010

  On April 18, 2010, Mr. Mikio Nakamura has given a one and a half hour lecture on the project in a response to a request from Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Egypt.

The lecture was held in the Institute for Diplomatic Studies, which is located next to Ministry of Foreign Affairs building. Thirteen young diplomats, to be dispatched to work abroad in the coming period, attended the lecture.

The lecture started with opening remarks by Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and then Mr. Nakamura introduced himself and explained the reasons for establishing the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM). He also gave an introduction on the GEM Conservation Center using some illustrations, followed by project overview, the achievements till now and planned future activities.

The attendance was so much interested particularly in the challenges faced by the project. For example, Mr. Nakamura explained how he standardized the written forms of numbers in order to create a correct database. He also referred to the conditions of storerooms.

Moreover, he confirmed that there has been a history of a cordial relationship between Egypt and Japan, mentioning that there were crystal balls found in Shosouin, the oldest conservation center in the world, as an evidence for the first exchange event between Egypt and Japan. He also discussed the Samurai visit to Cairo before Meiji era.

During the discussion, a participant asked what challenges the project faced in addition to the delaying of contract signing with consulting company which is to be done by the Japanese loan, the delaying of assigning employees for the Conservation Center and the correction of the artifacts database. Mr. Nakamura answered that mutual understanding between all parties involved in the GEM project is required.

“In order to be a successful diplomat, you should study the history of your country first” Mr. Nakamura concluded and everybody nodded their heads with shiny eyes as a sign of supporting his point of view. The lecture reminded the attendance of the importance of establishing the GEM, which will pass down the history of ancient Egypt.

 
Egyptian Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the attendance at the opening of the Lecture
General Coordinator, Mr. Nakamura, explaining the training courses