South Korea and Egypt agreed Thursday to elevate bilateral ties to a strategic partnership and begin negotiations on a comprehensive economic partnership agreement as President Lee Jae Myung met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi in Seoul.
The summit came during el-Sissi's state visit to South Korea, his first trip to the country in 10 years, following Lee's visit to Egypt in November last year.
Lee described Egypt as a key partner in South Korea's SHINE Initiative, a broader Middle East policy vision he unveiled at Cairo University last year, and called for closer cooperation in trade and investment, defense, culture, education and emerging industries.
"Today, we are opening a new chapter in bilateral cooperation, with Korea–Egypt relations being elevated to a strategic partnership," Lee said.
Lee also said the two sides had formally launched negotiations on a comprehensive economic partnership agreement, expressing hope that an agreement would help expand trade and investment and broaden economic cooperation.
El-Sissi said Egypt highly valued the development of bilateral relations since Lee's visit last year and pledged support for South Korean companies seeking to expand investment and operations in Egypt.
He said the creation of a Korean industrial complex in Egypt could allow Korean companies to localize production and use Egypt's free trade agreements to expand into markets in the Middle East, Africa and Europe.
The meeting was attended by senior officials from both countries, including Foreign Minister Cho Hyun, Science and ICT Minister Bae Kyung-hoon, Trade, Industry and Resources Minister Kim Jung-kwan, national security adviser Wi Sung-lac and Defense Acquisition Program Administration Minister Lee Yong-cheol from the South Korean side.
Egypt's delegation included Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, Investment and Foreign Trade Minister Mohamed Farid Saleh, Transport Minister Kamel El Wazir and Industry Minister Khaled Hashem.
The two countries signed or revised 12 cooperation documents covering areas including shipbuilding, clean energy, electric power infrastructure, information and communications technology and cultural exchanges.
Among the agreements was a social insurance pact, making South Korea the first Asian country to conclude such an agreement with Egypt. The two sides also signed memorandums of understanding on shipbuilding, clean energy and ICT cooperation, including artificial intelligence, high-speed internet and cybersecurity.
The leaders also discussed defense cooperation, citing the joint production of K9 self-propelled howitzers as a successful model and expressing hope that cooperation would expand beyond weapons exports toward a broader industrial partnership.
Seoul's presidential office also revealed that Lee gifted el-Sissi a premium road bike as a gift. According to Cheong Wa Dae, the gift was chosen in consideration of el-Sissi's passion for cycling and his efforts to promote the use of bicycles in improving public health.
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