Minister of Investment and International Cooperation, Sahar Nasr signed an agreement with the South Korean ambassador to Egypt, Yeocheol Yoon, on Sunday morning in the presence of Transport Minister Hisham Arafat. The agreement is worth €243m for the procurement and manufacturing of 32 air-conditioned trains for Cairo's third metro line. During the signing ceremony, Nasr said that the transportation sector is one of the most important sectors that Egyptian government pays attention to, noting that the coming period will witness new agreements with development partners in the transportation sector, as well as new private sector investments especially after the Egyptian parliament approved the mass transportation law. Nasr added that her ministry is keen on supporting the transport ministry' strategy to enhance the transportation system and improve Egyptians' standards of living, mentioning that the past period has witnessed several developments in the transport sector due to its importance as an attractive infrastructure environment for investors. Nasr said that her ministry pays great importance to encourage foreign direct investment, calling on Korean companies to increase their investments in Egypt and inject new money into the local market. “South Korea is important as a development partner. South Korea has contributed to supporting important projects that have had a positive impact especially in the fields of transport, higher education, vocational training, electricity, technology transfer, as well as sharing the Korean expertise,” mentioned Nasr. Additionally, the transport minister said that signing the agreement with the Korean side comes after a two-year effort, noting that his ministry has a long-standing cooperation with Korea especially in the transportation ofn urban planning field. "For the first time, local components reach 30% of the trains," said Arafat. For his part, the Korean ambassador to Egypt mentioned that his country is keen on boosting relations with Egypt noting that Egypt's business climate was enhanced during the last period and Korean companies positively look at the local market. "Korea's International Cooperation Agency KOICA, provided many training courses for Egyptian officials in the areas of metro and railways. I hope we will contribute to the improvement transportation sector," said the ambassador. "This agreement is a result of cooperation between Egypt and Korea since the historical visit of President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi to South Korea in March 2016," said the ambassador, noting that the coming period will witness cooperation with Egypt under the signed financial package agreement, worth $3bn.
