Dr. Rania Al Mashat, Minister of International Cooperation, began her visit in Seoul, South Korea by holding a bilateral meeting with Mr. Kim Byoung-hwan, first Vice Minister of Economy and Finance of South Korea, in the presence of Egypt's Ambassador to Korea, Ambassador Khaled Abdel Rahman. This meeting was part of her participation in the Korean-African Summit, which is being held on June 3 and 4 with the participation of 48 African countries, represented by leaders, presidents, and heads of government of the continent.
The Minister of International Cooperation expressed her gratitude to the Minister of Economy and Finance of Korea for the warm reception and welcome, affirming Egypt's keenness, under the leadership of H.E. President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, to further develop the common relations between the two countries, which vary in many commercial, economic, and investment fields, in line with the priorities and requirements of development in Egypt and enhancing efforts to achieve sustainable development goals.
The Korean First Vice Minister of Economy and Finance welcomed the Minister of International Cooperation, affirming South Korea's pride in its partnership with Egypt as a key country in Africa and the region and one of the most cooperative countries with South Korea on the continent in various fields and the importance of development cooperation in supporting sustainable development goals, pointing to the memorandum of understanding signed in 2022 between the two countries worth $1 billion, which enabled the implementation of projects that meet development requirements and achieve common interests, including the joint project to manufacture and maintain 320 trains in partnership between the public and private sectors, represented by the National Company for Rail Manufacturing "NERC" and the Hyundai Korean alliance, in the East Port Said region, as well as the Green Transformation project in the Suez Canal. Mr. Kim also emphasized the support for climate and green transformation projects in Egypt.
The Minister of International Cooperation explained that the common relations between the two countries are witnessing significant development, as Egypt has been chosen to become the strategic partner of South Korea in terms of development cooperation efforts. Dr. Al-Mashat noted that the Egyptian-Korean partnership has resulted in the implementation of projects with a significant developmental impact, including the subway project that serves more than 3 million citizens annually, in addition to other projects in the fields of environment, health, and digitization. Among these projects is also the localization of the industry and maintenance of trains in Egypt, which meets local demand and stimulates exports to African countries, emphasizing the importance of this model and the need to replicate it in other sectors to enhance comprehensive and sustainable growth.
"Al Mashat" emphasized the measures taken by the government to encourage foreign direct investment and promote companies operating in Egypt to localize manufacturing in various sectors. H.E. also highlighted the provision of all forms of support to encourage Korean companies operating in Egypt, referring to the meeting of the Prime Minister with 15 South Korean companies operating in Egypt in many priority sectors, including electronics, energy, and iron and steel, which confirms the government's keenness to support the strategic partnership with the Korean private sector and increase the investments of those companies in Egypt.
Additionally, the Minister of International Cooperation discussed efforts to implement the National Climate Change Strategy 2050, the nationally determined contributions (NDCs), and the launch of the national platform for the "NWFE" program, which is based on national ownership and includes a set of priority projects in the water, food, and energy sectors with the aim of stimulating climate investments in Egypt. Dr. Al-Mashat also highlighted the launch of the Sharm El-Sheikh Guidebook for Just Financing, which sets important principles and pathways to encourage climate finance in developing countries.
The two sides discussed cooperation opportunities to benefit from innovative financing mechanisms and tools to increase climate investments in Egypt, enhancing the Egyptian-Korean partnership, in continuation of coordination with multilateral and bilateral development partners to complement efforts in providing financing for these projects.
Al Mashat concluded the meeting by emphasizing Egypt's appreciation for the common relations with South Korea, and that the Korea-Africa summit represents an opportunity to enhance trilateral cooperation between Egypt, Korea and the countries of the continent, and to support South-South cooperation to benefit from development experiences and expertise.
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