Speech by President El-Sisi at Press Conference with President of Republic of South Korea

In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful,
Your Excellency, President and dear friend, Moon Jae-in,
President of the friendly Republic of Korea,

It gives me great pleasure to welcome you today in Cairo as a dear guest of Egypt and its people, wishing you a pleasant stay and fruitful results during this visit. This visit comes within the framework of our mutual interest in consulting and exchanging views on various topics and issues of common interest, as well as working to strengthen relations of cooperation between Egypt and Korea in a way that achieves common interests and contributes to achieving development and prosperity for our peoples, and in addition to following up on the outcome of my visit to the Korean capital, Seoul, in 2016.

At the outset, I would like to express our appreciation for the momentum evident in the bilateral cooperation in various fields between the two countries, as well as our pride in the depth of the Egyptian-Korean relations, which have witnessed remarkable development during the past years. I would also like to confirm the importance of working to put into effect the comprehensive cooperative partnership between the two countries in proportion to the capabilities and capacities of the two countries and in the interest of their peoples.

During the talks, our views were aligned on the importance of continuing the political consultation mechanism between the two countries through the Joint Ministerial Committee for Political, Economic and Technical Cooperation, headed by the two foreign ministers; the dialogue between the two ministries of finance; and the Joint Trade Committee, due to their importance in advancing and strengthening relations of cooperation between the two countries across a plethora of fields.

I also conveyed our aspiration to attract Korean companies and investments to Egypt, highlighting our readiness to provide all the necessary facilities to create an investment environment for incubating Korean investments and encourage the increase of Korean investments in major development projects and infrastructure projects. This is also in addition to investments in projects in the fields of energy, mining, transportation, and communications and information technology which comes in tandem with the economic reform process carried out by Egypt, the achievements made in this framework, and the positive indicators for the economic future of Egypt.
We also agreed on the importance of joint cooperation to support Egypt’s vision that seeks to embark on the Fourth Industrial Revolution, as well as intensify coordination in this context. This shall take place whether through establishing the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) in Egypt or through cooperation between the ministries of communications and information technology in the field of AI in the government, especially as the date for the relocation to the New Administrative Capital approaches. Egypt looks forward to achieving a massive development stride in the near future, similar to Korea’s successful experience.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
Our discussions also reviewed opportunities for potential partnership between the Egyptian companies operating in Africa and Korean companies, in addition to promoting investment in Africa, especially in the field of infrastructure. This is while highlighting the huge opportunities offered by starting work in the Continental Free Trade Area, including significant increase in the flow of investment and trade between the African countries and the international community.

We also exchanged views on various regional and international issues of mutual interest. There was consensus on coordinating the positions of both countries in various international arenas.

Our meeting, today, crowns our joint efforts over the past period to advance cooperation between the two countries and develop a comprehensive strategy and common vision for different aspects and areas of cooperation, as well as means to push them forward. This confirms our joint political will in this regard, ushering in a new phase of partnership between the two countries.

Your Excellency,
Concluding my remarks, allow me to welcome you again in Cairo. I look forward to seeing the coming period witness more cooperation and coordination between Egypt and Korea so as to realize welfare and prosperity for our peoples and generate more momentum for the comprehensive cooperation partnership and longstanding friendship that binds our peoples and countries.

Thank you.