The Ministry of Transport witnessed on Wednesday the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for cooperation between South Korean train manufacturer Hyundai Rotem and the National Railways Industry Company (NRIC) to locally manufacture metro cars. The MoU includes the manufacturing of over 800 Metro cars to modernise the first and second Cairo metro lines, and to supply new lines, the transport minister said. The MOU, the result of talks between Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and CEO of Hyunda Rotem Yong-Bae Lee, will facilitate the cooperation between Hyundai Rotem and NRIC, which will involve localising the train industry and transferring technology. Under the first phase of the agreement, local components will make up 29.9 percent of metro cars in the first two years, rising to 50 percent in the following couple of years, and then jumping to 75 percent after six years, he added. Meanwhile, the planning minister said that the metro car industry is labour-intensive and delivers high economic returns, adding that an alliance including the Sovereign Fund of Egypt, the Suez Canal Authority, and four national companies will work together on the project to locally manufacture metro cars. The South Korean ambassador noted that that project is especially meaningful as it aims at exporting subway cars made in Egypt as well as strengthening Egypt's capability in the transportation infrastructure that Egyptians use every day. The signing ceremony was attended by Minister of Transport Kamel El-Wazir, Minister of Planning and Economic Development Hala El-Saeed, South Korean Ambassador to Egypt Hong Jin-Wook and chairman of the National Authority for Tunnels Essam Wali.
