Rania Al-Mashat, Egypt's Minister of International Cooperation, met with Kim Byoung-hwan, South Korea's First Vice Minister of Economy and Finance, in Seoul on the first day of the Korea-Africa Summit. The meeting, attended by Egypt's Ambassador to Korea, Khaled Abdel Rahman, focused on strengthening the development cooperation between the two nations. Minister Al Mashat expressed Egypt's keenness to deepen the bilateral relationship, highlighting the diverse commercial, economic, and investment ties already in place. She emphasized the government's commitment, under President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, to align this cooperation with Egypt's development priorities and the Sustainable Development Goals. Vice Minister Kim reciprocated the sentiment, affirming Egypt's pivotal role as a strategic partner for South Korea in Africa. He praised the countries' joint projects, including a $1bn memorandum of understanding signed in 2022, which has facilitated key initiatives such as the joint manufacture and maintenance of 320 trains in partnership with Hyundai Rotem, and a green transformation project in the Suez Canal. The Minister highlighted the growing Egyptian-Korean partnership, noting Egypt's selection as a strategic partner for South Korea's development cooperation efforts. She cited the positive impact of projects like the Cairo metro, which serves over 3 million passengers annually, and other initiatives in the environment, health, and digitization sectors. She also emphasized the success of the train manufacturing and maintenance project in localizing industry and stimulating exports, suggesting it as a model for replication in other sectors. Al-Mashat detailed the Egyptian government's measures to encourage foreign direct investment and localize manufacturing, noting the Prime Minister's recent meeting with 15 South Korean companies operating in key sectors. She reaffirmed the government's support for the strategic partnership with the Korean private sector and its commitment to facilitating increased investment in Egypt. The meeting also touched upon Egypt's National Climate Change Strategy 2050, the nationally determined contributions (NDCs), and the launch of the national platform for the "NWFE" program, aimed at stimulating climate investments in Egypt. Al Mashat highlighted the Sharm El-Sheikh Guidebook for Just Financing, which sets principles and pathways for encouraging climate finance in developing countries. Both sides discussed opportunities for cooperation in leveraging innovative financing mechanisms and tools to increase climate investments in Egypt. Al-Mashat concluded by reiterating Egypt's appreciation for the strong relationship with South Korea and emphasizing the Korea-Africa Summit as a platform to enhance trilateral cooperation between Egypt, Korea, and other African countries. She highlighted the importance of South-South cooperation in sharing development experiences and expertise.
