Ashraf AboArafe
His Excellency the new Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Egypt, Mr. Kim Yong-hyon, and His Excellency the Minister of International Cooperation, Dr. Rania Al-Mashat, signed an implementation agreement with the Korean Cooperation Fund for Economic Development to manufacture and provide metro trains for the second and third lines of Cairo Metro at the headquarters of the Egyptian Ministry of International Cooperation on Monday, June 12. Through this agreement, the Korean government represented by the Economic Development Cooperation Fund will provide $460 million USD out of the total project cost of $656 million USD.
Ambassador Kim, who started his post as Korean Ambassador as of May 31, expressed his happiness to sign this agreement after his arrival to Egypt, and praised the conclusion of this approval as the most prominent example of the push to strengthen development cooperation between the two countries. And said that the project is expected to be the cornerstone for more cooperation projects between the two countries in the future, as well as that it will contribute to a tangible improvement in the standard of living of the Egyptian people.
Ambassador Kim also stated that he will work to enhance economic and development cooperation and expand cooperation in private sectors between the two countries during his tenure in Egypt, and therefore communication and cooperation with the Egyptian government and companies will continue actively.
For her part, Her Excellency the Minister, Dr. Rania Al-Mashat, stated that the two countries are witnessing the strengthening of cooperation more than ever before, Adding that this agreement is one of the excellent examples of cooperation between the two countries, as it is one of the important achievements in terms of plans to expand transportation networks and economic development.
Her Excellency the Minister also expressed that she is looking forward to finding areas and projects for friendly cooperation in the future on the basis of the cooperative relationship between the two countries.
The project to manufacture Metro trains for the second and third lines of Cairo Metro is not limited to the provision of trains, but rather it even includes joint manufacturing of them. It is expected that it will contribute to improving the quality of life of the Egyptian people as well as creating job opportunities in Egypt and greatly localizing the technology of the railway industry.
Korea and Egypt have recently witnessed unprecedented levels of cooperation thanks to multiple economic cooperation projects, especially in the field of development cooperation, as Korea has selected Egypt as a priority country to provide official development assistance during the period from 2021 to 2025, which leads to deepening the relationship between the two nations.
