By Sarah El-Sheikh
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry will start a tour to South Korea and Japan on Saturday to strengthen political, economic, and trade relations with the two countries.
The tour will last for a week and will begin in South Korea, where Shoukry will meet with numerous important economic institutions, including the Union of Korean Industries, and others. He will also meet officials from banks and electronics and engineering companies there, according to foreign ministry spokesperson Ahmed Abu Zaid’s statement.
Shoukry will meet his Korean counterpart and head of the Foreign Relations Committee in the Korean parliament.
Abu Zaid said Shoukry’s visit to Korea has great significance since it will advance relations between both countries and will increase Korea’s investments in Egypt. The visit will aslo enhance Korea’s solidarity with Egypt to confront terrorism, and implement development projects, Abu Zaid noted.
South Korea has several investments in Egypt, including the Egyptian-Korean university project, for which feasibility studies are expected to begin shortly. Another project includes the development of the Alexandrian port, a project to develop signals systems from Nag Hammad to Luxor, and projects to develop metro stations in Egypt.
Regarding Shoukry’s visit to Japan, he will meet with the Japanese International Cooperation Agency, Japan Bank for International Cooperation, and with officials from the Japanese foreign ministry and the parliament. He will host a lecture in the Japanese Institute of International Affairs.
Abu Zaid said Egyptian-Japanese relations witnessed significant positive changes after the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit to Egypt in January. Shoukry expressed Egypt’s appreciation for the historical projects developed by Japan in Egypt, including the Opera House, the Suez Canal Bridge, and Abu Rish Hospital.
During his visit, Shoukry aims to review internal developments, discuss the regional conditions in the Middle East and present possible solutions to maintain peace in the region.
