South Korea, Egypt to Reach Agreement on Free Trade Deal

South Korea revealed this week that it is keen on boosting cooperation with Egypt in various fields and concluding a free trade deal with Cairo.

In a step intended to boost their cooperation, South Korea's trade ministry has decided to launch and begin immediate negotiations on free trade agreements with Egypt.

According to Yonhap News Agency, South Korea's Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo plans to meet his Egyptian counterpart Nevin Gamaa via video conference soon and propose resuming talks for the free trade agreement, according to South Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy.

Both ministers will discuss enhancing the partnership relations between them in the energy sector and all domains, especially in light of the mega development projects which are currently under construction in Egypt.

This meeting aims to resume talks for a new free trade agreement with Egypt to forge deeper economic ties with the giant African nation since the last summit, held in Feb. 2019 in Seoul.

They will also tackle many economic matters, starting with the free trade agreement between the two countries and not ending with the demands of the joint African-Asian market to give the meeting a distinguished economic character.

This agreement is expected to be reached in this meeting and signed soon, the latest report of South Korean News Agency' said.

If all things go well, this agreement will remove nearly some tariffs on goods traded between the two economies, the report added.

It's worth mentioning that South Korea and Egypt have been holding close ties in traditional energy sectors, including the petroleum, gas, and nuclear industries, according to Egyptian reports.