Eng. Ahmed El Assar – CEO and Chairman of the Arab Contractors Company, and Prof. Dr. Ahmed Zayed - Director of Bibliotheca Alexandrina, inaugurated the 27th Embassy of Knowledge “EOK” of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina inside the Institute for Construction Engineering and Management Technology of the Arab Contractors Company, in the presence of a delegation of Arab Contractors Board Members, including Eng. Ahmed El Adlany, Eng. Heba Abu El Ela, Eng. Dina Mohamed Adel; Eng. Sherif Hamdy - Manager of the ICEMT, and his deputies Dr. Tarek Mansour, Dr. Heba Adel, and officials from the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, including Dr. Mohamed Soliman - Head of the Cultural Communication Sector, Eng. Ahmed Samir - Head of the Information and Communications Technology Sector, Dr. Ashraf Farag - Supervisor of the Knowledge Embassies Project, Journalist Alaa Abdel Hady - Media Advisor of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, and Eng. Ahmed Abdel Wahed – Manager of the Infrastructure Department in the Information and Communications Technology Sector.
At the beginning of his speech, Eng. Ahmed El Assar expressed his pride and honor in signing this protocol during October month, coinciding with the anniversary of the opening of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina on October 16, 2002, and also embracing the anniversary of the glorious October victories, a day of pride and honor for every Egyptian, which embodied heroism that dazzled the world.
Eng. Ahmed El Assar added that this protocol comes in line with the state's trends towards digital transformation and the principle of refining the skills of the Arab Contractors Company's employees to accommodate developments in this field, expressing his happiness at launching the first knowledge embassy of Bibliotheca Alexandrina in the company within the library of its training institute. This embassy is a great addition to the company's researchers and engineers and a qualitative leap towards moving to digital libraries to keep pace with rapid technological development.
El Assar stated that the relationship between the Arab Contractors Company and the Bibliotheca Alexandrina dates back to the company’s contribution to the establishment of this global cultural edifice, which has won many international awards, including Aga Khan Award for Architecture for the beauty and magnificence of its design and implementation. He also stressed that the library represents one of the major landmarks in the company’s record of achievements.
At the beginning of his speech, Dr. Ahmed Zayed expressed his happiness to cooperate with one of the largest and most prestigious contracting companies in the Middle East and Africa in the building and construction field, combining authenticity and innovation, as its roots extend back more than half a century, and includes approximately 70 thousand engineers, technicians, administrators, and workers exist in more than 29 countries abroad. The Arab Contractors Company is implementing giant projects in Egypt and abroad in the field of building and construction of roads, bridges, tunnels, ports, airports, universities, and new cities, the latest of which was New Alamein City Towers, in addition to the monument restoration, as it is the pride of Egyptian national institutions with a global reputation and quality.
Dr. Ahmed Zayed stated that this protocol is the beginning of constructive cooperation between two of the largest Egyptian institutions with regional and international influence, namely Bibliotheca Alexandrina and the Arab Contractors Company, in service of the Egyptian citizen wherever he is. He added that the equipping of the Knowledge Embassy in the Institute for Construction Engineering and Management Technology was completed in a record time, not exceeding 3 months from the date of requesting its establishment until its opening, making it the fastest embassy to be established among all embassies and number 27 in the series of knowledge embassies established by Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Egypt and abroad.
Dr. Ahmed Zayed confirmed that the doors of the new embassy are open from today to receive visitors and users from researchers, workers, and all members of the Arab Contractors Company, to provide them with its scientific, research, and cultural services for free. Visitors to the embassy will review all the knowledge sources in the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, including references, scientific periodicals, and cultural books, which exceed half a million digitized references, books, and periodicals; besides, virtual tours of the library’s museums and live broadcasting all the library’s activities, including conferences, seminars, and exhibitions.
Finally, the two parties headed to the headquarters of the Institute for Construction Engineering and Management Technology of the Arab Contractors Company, to launch the opening ceremony of the Embassy of Knowledge "EOK”.