Korean Ambassador Hong Jin Wook paid an official visit to the Alexandria governorate from Sep. 28~29, 2021. During his visit, Ambassador Hong met with Captain/Tarek Shahin, Chairman of Alexandria Port Authority, Dr. Mostafa el Feki, Director of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, and Major General Mohamed El-Sherif, Governor of Alexandria.
In the meeting at Alexandria Port Authority, the Korean Ambassador pointed to the Memorandum of Understanding signed between Busan Port Authority (BPA) and Alexandria Port Authority in September 2015, as well as the memorandum for cooperation between the Korean Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries and the Egyptian Ministry of Transport on the development of Alexandria Port in March 2016.
He expressed hope that the bilateral cooperation between the two sides could be further strengthened and consolidated.
Hong added that the scope of cooperation could be expanded greatly, especially as the Korean government has designated Egypt as a priority country for the Official Development Assistance ODA for the coming 5 years, expecting this to help realize more tangible cooperation projects. Furthermore, he requested the support of the Alexandria Port Authority to Korean companies using Alexandria Port for handling their trade, which contributes greatly to the Egyptian economy.
On his part, Captain Tarek explained the Alexandria Port development plan, expressing hope for more investments from Korean companies. Captain Tarek stressed the importance of capacity building and knowledge sharing on port management within the framework of the already signed memorandum between the two port authorities. Following the meeting, Captain Tarek accompanied Ambassador in a tour to the major facilities and development work at the Alexandria Port.
In a separate meeting with Dr. Mostafa El-Feki, Director of the Library of Alexandria, on September 28, Ambassador Hong pointed to the importance of cultural cooperation between the two countries including the archiving systems and the documentation project using the Korean traditional paper (Hanji), as well as the contribution of Korean companies through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities.
The Korean Ambassador pointed to the planned visit of the Chief Librarian of the Korean National Assembly to Egypt in December, and their willingness to sign a memorandum of understanding MOU for cooperation with the Library of Alexandria, expecting that the cooperation between the two countries’ major libraries to be further strengthened through this MoU and requesting Alexandria Library’s support in that regard.
Dr. Mostafa agreed on the need to promote cultural cooperation between the two countries, taking advantage of Korea’s advanced information technology and Egypt’s rich cultural heritage. Dr. Mostafa highlighted the importance that President Sisi attaches to culture, expressing hope that more cultural exchanges and visits for Korean delegations to the Alexandria Library.
During the meeting with the Governor of Alexandria, on September 29, Ambassador Hong requested support to the Korean companies operating in Alexandria, stressing the need to activate the sister-ship agreement concluded between Alexandria Governorate and Incheon City.
The Governor, for his part, thanked the Korean government for the ongoing cooperation on the Urban Transport Modernization Masterplan Project through the Korean Ministry of land and transportation, stressing that the governorate will continue its support for the success of the project.
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