Korean Amb. Visits Egypt's Aswan, Tours Benban Project and Aswan High Dam

The South Korean Ambassador to Egypt, Hong Jin Wook, paid a visit to Aswan Governorate from February 7 to 9 to explore possible cooperation in Upper Egypt within the framework of the Egyptian government's national development plans.

During his visit, Hong met with the Governor of Aswan, Major General Ashraf Attia Abdel Bari, to discuss ways of cooperation in the fields of energy, transportation, education, and culture, and paid a visit to the Benban solar power plant and Aswan High Dam.

During the meeting with the Governor of Aswan, Ambassador Hong emphasized his country’s willingness to support the presidential led "Decent Life" initiative, which aims at creating a balanced development across Egypt’s villages towards sustainable regional development.

Ambassador Hong noted that the Korean government’s decision to choose Egypt as a priority partner for official development assistance for the period from 2021-2025 gives an opportunity to increase cooperation in Aswan governorate, noting that the signing of the railway modernization project between Luxor and the High Dam (worth 310 million USD) during the visit of His Excellency President Moon Jae-in to Egypt last January constitutes a good starting point.

The ambassador expects the project to contribute to developing the railway infrastructure and improving the transportation connections between Aswan and other governorates, which will lead to the development of Aswan Governorate by revitalizing the tourism sector as well as improving the quality of life for citizens. In that regard, the Ambassador requested the support of Aswan Governorate to facilitate the implementation of the project.

He also expressed his hope to open new facets for cooperation with Aswan Governorate in the field of green industries, highlighting Korea’s keenness to enhance cooperation with Egypt in this field and referring in this context to the Korean-Egyptian round table for the future of green industries, which was held last January in the presence of His Excellency the Korean President Moon Jae-in and the Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly.

Hong and Major General Ashraf Abdel Bari agreed to cooperate on new and renewable energy projects, especially that Aswan has one of the world’s largest solar power plants in Benban, and there is a growing interest in this field as Egypt is hosting the COP27 climate conference next November.

He added that "environment and energy" are one of the main pillars for Korea’s future cooperation with Egypt, and he expects more opportunities for joint cooperation in the field of green transformation to be realized in the future.

The Korean diplomat pointed to the possibility of implementing joint projects with the governorate while benefiting from the finance available through the Korean Economic Development Cooperation Fund worth one billion dollars, which was concluded during the visit of the Korean President to Egypt last month, as well as the joint financing for renewable energy projects worth 600 million dollars available through the Export-Import Bank of Korea in cooperation with the African Development Bank.

For his part, Major General Ashraf Abdel Bari expressed his aspiration to enhance cooperation with Korea in the field of education through the Department of Korean Language at Aswan University, as well as cooperation in the energy and infrastructure sector.

He also shared the same view with the governor, noting that many Korean companies look forward to entering the Egyptian market and consider Egypt an attractive investment destination. He added that this would lead to an increase in the number of Egyptians interested in learning the Korean language.

Hong pledged to continue supporting the Korean Language Department at Aswan University by dispatching volunteers from the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), stressing that mutual understanding and people-to-people exchange are the base for the two countries’ bilateral relations.

[caption id="attachment_313536" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Korean Amb. Visits Egypt's Aswan, Tours Benban Project and Aswan High Dam[/caption]

The ambassador suggested expanding the scope of cooperation between Korea and Aswan Governorate to include the field of cultural heritage. He pointed out that a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in the field of cultural heritage between the two countries was recently signed between the Cultural Heritage Administration of Korea and the Supreme Council of Antiquities in Egypt, which includes cooperation in the restoration and development of antiquities as well as public and academic exchange.

He expected that cooperative projects in the field of cultural heritage will allow the governorate to take advantage of Korea’s advanced technology in the restoration and preservation of the perse cultural heritage in Aswan.

After the meeting, Ambassador Hong visited the Benban Power Plant and the High Dam in Aswan, which are used for solar and hydroelectric power generation. The Ambassador praised the efforts exerted by the Egyptian government to maximize the utilization of its resources to generate new and renewable energy. He expressed his confidence in Egypt’s success in hosting the twenty-seventh session of the Conference of the Parties this year.