Egypt’s Minister of International Cooperation, Rania Al-Mashat, received Wednesday a high-level delegation from the Cabinet of South Korea, headed by Deputy Minister of International Development Cooperation, Kim Young Su.
During the meeting, they discussed various areas of cooperation that come within the framework of the Government of Korea’s announcement that Egypt will be its key official development assistance (ODA) priority partner country and the key development partner in the MENA region over the coming five years (2021-2025). This is in addition to the preparations of the partnership strategy plan for this period, in light of the joint cooperation between both countries.
The Korean delegation included senior planning and evaluation managers in the Korean Cabinet; and representatives from the Korean Embassy in Cairo.
Minister Al-Mashat said that the ongoing development cooperation portfolio between Egypt and South Korea amounts to $473 m covering several sectors, including transportation. Furthermore, Minister affirmed the strengthened joint cooperation between Egypt South Korea, which goes beyond providing development financing and technical support for priority sector, as it is also characterized by the profound Korean investments in Egypt, led by Samsung Electronics, which provides a necessary model for cooperation through its factories in Upper Egypt and the Egyptian-Korean Faculty of Technological Industry and Energy, which provides labor and human capital for factories, as well as Hyundai Motor Company, and LG Corp.
The Minister further elaborated that these models of partnership widen the horizon of cooperation and bolsters the mutual exchange of technology, as well as the localization of the industry; noting that they also help in benefiting from the Korean expertise in this field. This comes in light of the Government of Egypt’s efforts to localize the industry across various fields, especially manufacturing metro and railways, as Egypt looks forward to meeting the needs of the local market, to be able to export to neighboring Arab and African countries in the regional market.
Al-Mashat added that the new partnership strategy for the next years plays a pivotal role in advancing joint relations and exploring new areas of cooperation, especially green financing, through stimulating national efforts to push forward the green transition, as Egypt will host the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27), which serves as an opportunity for strengthening international partnerships in the field of climate action, through which success stories and effective partnerships will be presented.
For his part, the Head of the Korean Delegation stated that South Korea looks forward to strengthening the institutional support for the Korean International Cooperation Agency in Cairo, so as to boost its operational capabilities, within the framework of the new phase of coordination for the new strategy. He also noted that the current period is witnessing coordination between the Ministries of International Cooperation, and Finance, to implement the “Electronic Budget” project, which comes as part of the government’s efforts to move to the New Administrative Capital (NAC).
They also mentioned that the Ministry of International Cooperation will receive a delegation from the Export-Import Bank of Korea (Korea Eximbank) by the end of November, to discuss joint cooperation and address the status of ongoing projects in the transport sector, as well as to develop the sector and improve its services for the people. This includes the project to develop Luxor-Aswan railway signaling systems; the High Dam in cooperation with the Ministry of Transport; and the Egyptian National Railways
It is worth noting that the ongoing development cooperation portfolio between Egypt and South Korea amounts to $473m covering several sectors, including high education and training, and information technology, and transportation.
