Egypt, Korea Discuss Ways to Boost Trade, Investment

Nada Mustafa

The Korean Ambassador, Mr. Kim Yonghyon, met the Minister of Trade and Industry Ahmed Samir Saleh on Wednesday, 1 November 2023 and discussed ways to promote trade and investment cooperation between the two countries.

Both sides discussed issues of mutual interests while expressing appreciation that the Korea-Egypt relations have developed tremendously and continuously in recent years since President Abdel Fatah El-Sisi’s visit to Korea in 2016 when the two countries’ comprehensive economic partnership was declared.

Ambassador Kim said Korea’s investment in Egypt has now reached 800 million US dollars with 34 major companies operating in Egypt, creating thousands of quality jobs for Egyptians, adding that many Korean companies including Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics are contributing to Egypt’s exports while producing ‘Made in Egypt’ products in Egypt.

Ambassador Kim also mentioned that he is pleased that many Korean companies are participating in Egypt’s national projects in many areas including nuclear power plant, transportation and defense industries.

Minister Samir said that there has been positive development in the trade between Egypt and Korea as Egypt recorded a surplus in its trade balance with Korea for the very first time in 2022, marking a notable shift from the previous year when Egypt experienced a trade balance deficit of 1,036 million USD with Korea.

※ According to the Central Public Mobilization Statistics (CAPMAS), Korea was the top country in East and South Asia for imports from Egypt in 2022, with imports larger than China and India.

Minister Samir went on to say that the two countries are witnessing promising collaboration across diverse sectors, while emphasizing that both countries need to explore various avenues to strengthen cooperation between the two nations in key areas. And the minister had proposed the exchange of trade delegations between the two countries.

The two sides also discussed the ongoing dialogue on the Korea-Egypt Economic Partnership Agreement and showed their expectations that the upcoming joint expert study will discuss concrete ideas of establishing a mutually beneficial bilateral trade regime.

The meeting was also attended by the Head of Economic Section at the Korean Embassy, Mr. Oh Sanghun, the Commercial Attache at the Korean Embassy, Mr. Yi Heondu and the head of the Egyptian Commercial Service Mr. Yahya Al-Wathiq Bellah from the Egyptian side.