The Presidency
“In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful”
Your Excellency President Lee Jae Myung,
President of the Republic of Korea,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is my pleasure to welcome His Excellency President Lee Jae Myung on his first visit to Egypt, which comes within the framework of our shared interest to advance relations between the two countries. This visit coincides with this year’s celebration of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Egypt and the Republic of Korea. Throughout these years, we have witnessed the development of cooperation and friendship between our two countries; relations that are based on mutual respect, and the support of peace, development, and prosperity, to reach the level of comprehensive cooperative partnership.
Egyptian-Korean relations form a bridge of civilizational and cultural connection and set a model of economic cooperation based on complementarity and maximizing mutual benefit from the capabilities of the two countries and the potential of their peoples.
Building on this shared foundation, I discussed with President Lee all aspects of relations between Egypt and the Republic of Korea, especially in the field of economic cooperation
and the participation of Korean companies in many key projects in Egypt. I seize this opportunity to invite these companies to strengthen their operations and expand their investments, and to invite new Korean companies to enter the Egyptian market and make use of the promising opportunities it offers.
During the talks, we agreed on the importance of taking practical steps to launch additional areas of cooperation across various fields,
including Artificial Intelligence, communications, and information technology, especially that this is a cross-cutting domain that contributes to enhancing productivity and expanding business across multiple sectors. We also agreed on encouraging the Korean business sector to establish factories for petrochemical production and to benefit from the advanced technological capabilities of the Republic of Korea in this field, especially in the Suez Canal Economic Zone. We further aim to attract Korean companies specialized in automobile manufacturing and shipbuilding to strengthen their presence in Egypt and establish additional factories for this purpose, taking advantage of the investment incentives offered by the Egyptian government in these sectors.
We also addressed positively the proposal to establish a Korean university specialized in science and technology in Egypt, as well as the possibility of establishing Korean schools in Egypt, with the aim of transferring educational experience and promoting the exchange of expertise.
Today we witnessed the signing of two memoranda of understanding in the fields of culture and education by both countries.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Our discussions today also touched on international and regional issues of common interest. We agreed on the need to promote a global culture of peace and to support stability in the Middle East and on the Korean Peninsula. We also emphasized the importance of intensifying international efforts to confront current challenges, notably terrorism, fighting pandemics, addressing the negative impacts of climate change, and upholding the principles of international law and the purposes of the United Nations Charter.
I reviewed Egypt’s efforts to maintain regional security and stability,
efforts that have recently resulted in reaching a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip through the agreement signed at the Sharm El-Sheikh Peace Summit on 13 October 2025, with broad international participation.
I also explained to President Lee Egypt’s unwavering position based on the importance of the two-state solution to reach lasting, comprehensive, and just peace. We look forward to more countries to recognize the State of Palestine in support of this track.
We also appreciate Korea’s future active contribution to the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.
In conclusion, I once again welcome His Excellency President Lee to Cairo. We look forward to working together to achieve prosperity for our two friendly peoples and to build on three decades of shared success.
Allow me before giving the floor to His Excellency the President to express my appreciation for him on his first visit to Egypt and for his political will to develop cooperation between our two countries.
I tell Your Excellency, in Egypt, we share this interest and are ready to provide all facilitations to Korean companies, not only companies, but various Korean sectors, to cooperate with us in the different fields we discussed, whether economic, trade, cultural, or military.
Once again, I welcome His Excellency the President, and I look forward to visiting South Korea again nine years after my first visit. I wish you every success.
