CAIRO- Forty companies are vying to build the final phase of Egypt's new $550 million museum which will showcase the largest collection of pharaonic treasures in the world, the project's supervisor said later Monday. These firms submitted pre-bid documents for the main construction phase of the Grand Egyptian Museum, which will span 117 acres overlooking the great pyramids of Giza and will exhibit 100,000 artifacts. "The Ministry of Culture called for companies to submit prequalification documents for this Grand Museum project," Mohamed Ghoneim, the project's supervisor, said by telephone. "Fourty companies submitted documents yesterday." The museum will include lavish gardens copying pharaonic designs, galleries and an archaeological research center. Thousands of ancient artifacts are already on display at the main museum in downtown Cairo, but more are boxed away in storage and new finds are dug up each year, so Egypt is building new museums across the country to showcase these treasures as it strives to attract more foreign visitors. Egypt's Orascom Construction Industries (OCI) and its subsidiary BESIX Group have jointly submitted pre-bid documents, while other bidders include state-owned Arab Contractors and Spain's Obrascon Huarte Lain, Egyptian newspaper al-Mal reported on Monday. OCI declined to comment. Egypt's Ministry of Culture, which spearheads the project, will announce a bid short-list in two months, al-Mal said. At the launch of the third and final construction phase in February, the Ministry said $300 million of the museum's cost would be funded through a Japanese loan, without giving more details, with the rest financed by the Egyptian government. In February, a joint venture between US-based Hill International and EHAF Consulting Engineers won a five-year, $50 million contract to manage the design and construction of the museum's final phase. Egypt is aiming to bring in $13 billion in tourism revenue in the full year 2010. Tourism accounts for about 11 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and provides about one in eight jobs in Egypt. The global economic crisis hit Egypt's tourist industry last year, with visitor numbers falling to 12.5 million from 12.8 million in 2008, while revenues slipped to $10.8 billion from about $11 billion. Egypt said last week earnings from tourism surged in the first half of 2010. OCI shares ended 1.7 per cent lower, tracking index losses.
