Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab and Sharjah Ruler Sheikh Sultan bin Mohamed al Qasimi inaugurated the new HQ of the National Library and Archives (NLA) in the early Islamic city of Fustat in Cairo on Sunday.

During the inauguration, Culture Minister Abdel Wahed el Nabawy said the new building can store 600 million documents.

The idea of a new building was initiated in 2003 to develop the NLA, one of the most important archive-storing places worldwide, the minister said.

The average flow of documents that needs saving is 9 million papers annually, which means more spaces are needed as the old building, located on the Nile Corniche, has only few meters left for storage, Nabawy said.

The new building is comprised of five floors – three for storing documents, while the other two contain a center for document conservation, a seminar hall and a training center, he added.