The Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), built by BESIX and Orascom Construction, has been awarded the Highly Commended Award in the Worldwide Project of the Year category at the FIDIC Contract Users’ Awards 2024. The award was presented during the sixth annual ceremony in London in December 2024.
FIDIC, the International Federation of Consulting Engineers, is the leading global organisation that sets standards for best practices and international construction contracts in the engineering and construction industry worldwide.
A great recognition
During the extended duration (from originally 40 months to more than 150 months), we issued more than 1,000 variations and several claims due to design changes, provisional sums and events like a revolution, political unrest with curfews, several severe devaluations of the Egyptian pound and Japanese Yen, COVID-19, material price increases due to the war in Ukraine and more recently the war in Gaza.
Joris De Kinder, Resident Manager Egypt of BESIX: By being creative and combining different contract clauses and by gaining the respect and trust of the client and the engineer, we always managed to align the objectives of all parties, as well as to agree each time an amicable closing of all variations and claims without ending up in arbitration or in court. That is what FIDIC appreciated in our application and why they gave the project this award.
This recognition is the first of its kind for an Egyptian project and for a BESIX project, highlighting the successful management and execution of FIDIC contracts on the GEM project. It also acknowledges the operational excellence of BESIX and Orascom Construction, in collaboration with the project's Client, the Ministry of State for Tourism and Antiquities and the Supreme Council for Antiquities, as well as the Engineer, Hill International/EHAF JV.
The GEM stands as one of the largest archaeological museums and cultural hubs in the world, showcasing thousands of precious Egyptian ancient artefacts. The museum is built on an area of 500,000 m², situated near the Giza Plateau overlooking the last remaining ancient wonder of the world: the Great Pyramids of Giza.
Soft opening in October 2024
This achievement follows GEM’s recent soft opening in October 2024, which welcomed visitors to notable attractions, including the first suspended obelisk, the iconic statue of Ramses II, the Children’s Museum, the main galleries, and a vibrant commercial area with restaurants, cafes, and shops featuring Egyptian brands.
The GEM continues to strengthen its position as a key cultural and heritage landmark, and we look forward to further achievements on its journey.
