21 Dec 2022; MEMO: The Egyptian government will be transferring its headquarters next month to the New Administrative Capital, located 45 kilometres east of the country's current capital Cairo. The announcement was made by the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the New Administrative Capital Company, Khaled Abbas, reported Egypt Independent yesterday.
"The Egyptian government will move to the Administrative Capital on January 1," Abbas said in a telephone interview. He added that the move will take place over a two month period, with two ministries being transferred every week.
The ministry buildings are reportedly fully ready and by the end of February, all ministries will be expected to work from the new administrative capital, he said.
It is hoped that the yet-to-be-named new capital will house around six million citizens once the three phases of construction are completed. It is currently in its first phase and is already twice the size of Cairo, which is home to over 20 per cent of Egypt's 106 million population.
The New Administrative Capital is the signature project of President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi and was first announced in March 2015. It is being built at a cost of around $59 billion. Most of the construction is being funded by China. Earlier this month, Chinese President Xi Jinping reaffirmed Beijing's commitment to the project in a meeting with Al-Sisi on the sidelines of the historic China-Arab Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
