Egypt and South Korea will be signing tomorrow a cooperation agreement in the presence of the Korean ambassador in Cairo, the Egyptian deputy prime minister said on Monday. Dr. Ziad Bahaa El-Din, Egypt's deputy prime minister, stated that he is entitled to sign the planned cooperation agreement with South Korea on Tuesday August 13th. It is worth mentioning that South Korea's total development aids to Egypt were by 2011 in the vicinity of US$52.5 million since the two countries commenced their ties in 1987. The South Korean aids are presented in forms of technical cooperation programs which are provided by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA). KOICA was founded as a government agency on April 1, 1991, to maximize the effectiveness of Korea's grant aid programs for developing countries by implementing the government's grant aid and technical cooperation programs. KOICA implements the South Korean government's grant aid and technical cooperation programs for developing nations, including Egypt. The South Korean agency are also providing training programs for the citizens working in the Egyptian public sectors. KOICA had started providing scholarships programs for the public-sector employees at value ranging between US$ 200,000 - 360,000 which have currently increased to range between US$ 5-7 million.
