The Korean Embassy in Egypt hosted a seminar on 12 October at the Nile Ritz-Carlton Hotel to assist Korean businesses in Egypt and explore ways to enhance economic cooperation between the two countries. The seminar was attended by key officials from both sides, including the Korean Ambassador in Cairo Kim Jonghyun, the CEO of the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZONE) Ahmed Saad, the Director of the Industrial Modernization Center (IMC) Doaa Selima, the Advisor to the Head of the Industrial Development Authority (IDA) Alaa Salah, and representatives of more than 20 Korean companies in various sectors, such as electronics, auto parts, and petrochemicals. The Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) and the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) also participated in the event.
The seminar featured presentations by SCZONE, IDA, and IMC on the Egyptian government’s policies to attract investment and support Korean businesses, followed by a Q&A session with the Korean companies. The companies showed keen interest in the Egyptian government’s initiatives and requested active collaboration and assistance from the Egyptian authorities to facilitate their expansion and investment in Egypt.
The Embassy also heard from the Egyptian economic expert Dalia Abdallah on Egypt’s business outlook, and from KOTRA on the potential areas of cooperation between Korea and Egypt. Moreover, Korea Trade Network (KTNET) introduced the Egyptian e-procurement system, which is being implemented as an ODA project by KOICA.
Ambassador Kim Jonghyun stressed that Egypt is Korea’s important economic partner in the Middle East and Africa, with Korea’s investment in Egypt exceeding $800m and bilateral trade reaching $3.2bn last year. He thanked the Egyptian government for its active support of Korean businesses and its policy efforts to improve the investment environment. He expressed his confidence that economic cooperation between the two countries will grow both in quantity and quality, considering the opportunities for cooperation in various fields such as high-tech industry, green industries, energy, and infrastructure. Ambassador Kim pledged to continue to pursue the expansion of investment and business cooperation.