Egypt’s new administrative capital will be inaugurated by 2021-end

Egypt is expected to officially inaugurate its new administrative capital (NAC) by the end of this year, while government services there are set to start operating on an experimental basis in August, according to Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly.

The experimental operation will begin after government employees are relocated to the NAC, Madbouly told a Cabinet meeting that was held on Monday evening to follow up on preparations for the anticipated opening.

The PM said the experimental operation aims to ensure that all facilities at the NAC’s buildings are available before the official inauguration of the new 700-square-kilometre city, said a cabinet statement released on Tuesday.

Madbouly ordered the immediate start of coordination to “hold an inauguration that lives up to this giant project and implement the government’s plan to relocate employees there,” the statement added.

During the meeting, the PM was briefed on the details related to the inauguration ceremony, including the occasion’s proposed schedule, as well as the events expected to be included and the delegations expected to attend.

Madbouly said that “a tour will be conducted inside the Administrative Capital to determine the most appropriate place for the ceremony… before a proposal is made to the president.”

Built on 1.5 million square meters, the NAC boasts a government district that will house 10 ministerial complexes grouping together 34 ministries, in addition to the headquarters of the cabinet and House of Representatives.

The government had planned to relocate ministries and 52,300 government employees to the new capital by mid-2020, but the coronavirus pandemic forced it to delay the move till 2021.

During Monday’s meeting, Madbouly called for highlighting the high-speed electric railway and monorail projects, which aim to facilitate access to the new capital from different parts of the country.