The Managing Director and CEO of United Media Services, Tarek Makhlouf, announced that approximately one billion viewers across more than 6,000 Egyptian, Arab and international media platforms watched the opening ceremony of the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM).
He expressed his pride in participating in organizing and broadcasting the event, which became a global achievement that garnered widespread attention.
During a phone interview with Mega FM radio, Makhlouf added, “I congratulate all Egyptians on the opening of the GEM, as it is an event that everyone in the world is talking about.”
Intensive preparations
“Preparations were in full swing, with daily and weekly follow-up from President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly. All state agencies exerted extraordinary efforts to ensure the success of this historic day,” he explained.
Makhlouf added that the Ministries of Tourism, Civil Aviation, Foreign Affairs, and Interior played a prominent role in the preparations.
In particular, he noted that the Interior Ministry made an exceptional effort which guaranteed the event proceeded smoothly with no security incidents.
He explained that thousands of hours of filming were completed inside Egypt, in addition to hundreds of hours abroad, to document scenes that were broadcast to the world from six different continents.
He added that the team had been working tirelessly to attend to the smallest details since March.
Makhlouf noted that the ceremony was originally scheduled for July but was postponed in solidarity with the events in Gaza and out of respect for the political circumstances at the time.
“The opening restored Egypt’s true image and its ability to dazzle, and proved that we possess the capabilities and expertise to preserve our heritage and take pride in our civilization,” he concluded.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
